Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin explains how Todd McLellan's leadership helped them bounce back
The Detroit Red Wings were challenged by coach Todd McLellan to respond after Tuesday's stinker against the Sharks, and they did so by beating the Panthers 5-2.
The Detroit Red Wings responded like they had to after Tuesday night's stinker against the San Jose Sharks, and they did so against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
The Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 on the road to kick off their 4-game road trip; a pair of goals from captain Dylan Larkin as well as goals from Jonatan Berggren, Patrick Kane and Marco Kasper got the job done.
Cam Talbot was strong between the pipes for Detroit, making 41 saves.
Afterward, Larkin explained how McLellan's challenge helped not only prepare them for the critical game but to ultimately prevail.
We talked about it for sure, but I don't think we dwelled on it. I think aside from the Toronto game, it was the 1st time for Todd when things didn't go well, we didn't win and play to our standard. He let us know that, and that was really important and I thought very productive.
We didn't dwell on it, today was business as usual, and we moved our focus to Florida and this trip, and we had a great start to this trip.
The Red Wings scored 3 power play goals, keeping their special teams among the hottest in the NHL, something that Larkin said was a major factor in their win.
Ever since the Christmas break, we've been practicing. I give credit to the penalty killers giving us game reps in practice, and it's just been good. Everyone's been clicking, and I think tonight we just outworked their penalty killers and attacked on their turnovers.
The Red Wings had to withstand a 3rd period push from the Panthers, who wouldn't go away quietly.
That's a heck of a hockey team, they're the defending champions for a reason. The 1st 10 minutes, we were hemmed in and it took us a little bit to get up to speed. We made some adjustments after the 1st, and that helped our game.
In the 3rd, I liked the way we played, we still got chances and put pressure (on them), but they're a team that forechecks. We had a really good 3rd period.
We set a standard for how we need to play, and it's just doing that night after night. Talbs was great tonight, so we'll have to find ways to win in different ways on this trip. Tampa is always a good challenge and a great atmosphere to play in, so I hope we're ready to go.
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21 HOURS AGO | 82 ANSWERS Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin explains how Todd McLellan's leadership helped them bounce back Has Dylan Larkin fully bounced back under Todd McLellan after once going 15 games without scoring? |
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Previously on Red Wings Insider
