Red Wings score eight in win against Flames

DETROIT-- Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou each had two goals and an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Calgary Flames 8-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.
Dylan Larkin had one goal and two assists, giving Detroit's three talented young players a combined five goals and four assists. Larkin is 21, and Mantha and Athanasiou are each 23.

WATCH: [All Flames vs. Red Wings highlights]
"They are playing complete hockey games, and that's huge," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "They've done things that translated to goals, but now they are doing the things that translate to wins."
Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader and Luke Glendening scored for Detroit (9-8-2), which had lost two straight (0-1-1), starting with a 6-3 loss to the Flames (10-8-0) in Calgary on Thursday. The Red Wings went 4-for-6 on the power play.
"We knew we needed more guys to start scoring, and that's what happened tonight," said Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who made 26 saves. "Tonight was great for this team."
Flames goalie Eddie Lack, starting in place of Mike Smith (upper-body injury), allowed five goals on 15 shots and was replaced by Jon Gillies at 4:27 of the second period, but coach Glen Gulutzan wasn't putting all the blame on Lack.
"I don't know which of those he was supposed to get," Gulutzan said. "We need to learn what happens when you aren't prepared to play. We weren't ready and we got our butts kicked."

Detroit scored four goals in the first period for the first time since Oct. 31, 2014, in a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings.
Athanasiou gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 5:35 with his third goal of the season. Athanasiou's pass to Larkin hit the stick of Flames defenseman TJ Brodie and deflected between Lack's legs.
Nyquist made it 2-0 at 7:25 with his sixth goal.
The Flames narrowed the margin to 2-1 on the power play at 8:37. Micheal Ferland knocked a loose puck under Howard's pad to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games. Johnny Gaudreau assisted, extending his point streak to eight games.
Mantha's power-play goal gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead at 15:44. Lack made the save on Mantha's initial shot, but Mantha tapped in the rebound for his ninth goal.

Larkin's shorthanded goal at 17:17 made it 4-1 on Detroit's 11th shot. Coming down the left wing, Larkin stopped to allow Brodie to slide by him, then put a wrist shot over Lack's shoulder.
Mantha scored his second of the game at 4:27 of the second period, giving the Red Wings a 5-1 lead and ending Lack's night.
Gaudreau's eighth goal made it 5-2 at 12:34. Abdelkader, playing with a face shield to protect a fractured cheekbone, knocked home Larkin's long pass off the end boards to give the Red Wings a 6-2 lead at 19:16.
Athanasiou made it 7-2 on the power play at 16:10 of the third period, and Glendening's power-play goal at 18:37 made it 8-2.
Four players were ejected with 5:56 remaining in the third period when 14 penalties were called following a fight between Brett Kulak of Calgary and Luke Witkowski of Detroit.

Goal of the game

Larkin's shorthanded goal at 17:17 of the first period.

Save of the game

Howard's back-to-back stops on Mikael Backlund (13:33) and Michael Frolik (13:35) of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Larkin's pass to set up Abdelkader's goal at 19:16 of the second period.

They said it

"We've got to get mentally stronger. We've got to help our goalie, and we have to fight back when we get down 4-1." -- Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan
"We all know what [Larkin] can do offensively, but now he's playing great defensive hockey. He was young when he got to the league (19 in 2015-16) -- heck, he's still young -- but now he's mature enough to play 200 feet."-- Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg

Need to know

Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley missed the third period with an upper-body injury. … Gillies made nine saves in his second NHL game. He beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on April 6.

What's next

Flames: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN360, MSG-B, FS-D+, NHL.TV)