RECAP: Lyon, team defense shine in Red Wings' 3-0 shutout win over Flyers

DETROIT -- Combining strong team defense and stellar goaltending, the Detroit Red Wings shut out the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-0, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

Notching his second shutout of the season and third of his NHL career, goalie Alex Lyon made 30 saves to help the Red Wings (25-18-5; 55 points) hand the Flyers (25-18-6; 56 points) their fourth straight loss.

“These are the kind of meaningful games we want to play, be in and battle hard,” Mortiz Seider said. “I think today was a great example of that and a really successful day for us. We played a really solid team and we shut them down defensively. Hopefully we can remember that in the long run as we hopefully push for that playoff spot.”

Entering Thursday with the second-best penalty kill in the NHL, Philadelphia staved off a Detroit power play just before the midway mark of the first period. Both clubs limited shots and defended hard in a scoreless opening frame that saw the Flyers outshoot the Red Wings, 8-4.

Captain Dylan Larkin opened the scoring with his team-leading 20th goal of the season at 1:37 of the second period, extending his point streak to 10 straight games. Larkin, who finished Lucas Raymond’s rebound in the slot to give Detroit a 1-0 lead, became the 16th player in franchise history to record five or more seasons with at least 20 goals.

“After the first, we had a lot of possession time but we’d like to get more pucks to the net and kind of create some havoc,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. “That’s exactly how that goal happened. It took three shot attempts to the net and all of a sudden, it’s on Larks’ stick on the backdoor and we find ourselves up.”

Nearly six minutes later, Seider made it 2-0 when his shot tipped off the stick of Philadelphia’s Morgan Frost and past Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson - who finished with 14 saves - at 7:15 of the second period. The lone assist went to Raymond, who recorded his 31st career NHL multi-point game to tie Mike Folingo and Dale McCourt for the fifth most by a Red Wings player at age 21 or younger.

“I saw Cat (Alex DeBrincat) on the far side and wanted to just get the puck over there,” Seider said about his sixth goal of the season. “It hit (Frost’s) stick and I just saw the puck floating in. It was lucky, but a goal is a goal at the end of the day.”

Andrew Copp wrapped up the scoring with a short-handed goal at 10:08 of the second period, giving Detroit a 3-0 lead. Michael Rasmussen made an extra-effort play from below Philadelphia’s goal line to set up Copp, whose one-timer marked his ninth goal of the season and 100th career NHL goal. Jeff Petry got the secondary assist.

"He's a big player for us," Raymond said about Copp, who has seven points in 11 games since Dec. 31. "The way he plays, he plays both ends. He's huge for us on the PK. That line has been really good for us lately. It's a big milestone and not a lot of players in this league achieve that, so happy for him and trying to keep building off that."

At 18:37 of the second period, Klim Kostin dropped the gloves with the Flyers' Nicolas Deslauriers.

“I think he’s not scared of anyone in this league,” Seider said about Kostin. “He gave us a boost. He told us we shouldn’t be scared of anyone out there, and I think that’s a great message we should take forward.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will clash against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on Detroit's pushback against Philadelphia

"Different matchups create different problems. We've struggled a little bit with real heavy. It's just our makeup, but I thought our pushback was great tonight. Great on Klim. It just really energized our group and him. It's just sometimes you have to do that. I thought it was the right opportunity for Kilm to do that."

Seider on bouncing back from Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars

“It was huge for us today, especially the second period. We knew we screwed up in the Dallas game and I think we came out big in the second. I think they had a lot of shots, but a lot was on the outside. It was huge just to get that win tonight. I think it just keeps us in the race and gives ourselves a little bit of confidence here.”

Raymond on Lyon’s importance to the Red Wings of late

“He’s been huge. He’s been playing a lot of games, but just the way he approaches the game. He’s kept us in a lot of games, so obviously it’s nice to have that in the back. I feel like he’s come up big for us in a lot of games. Tonight, obviously, a shutout for him is huge and I’m happy for him. He’s bailed us out a couple of times, so I think that’s a big thing too.”