RECAP: Red Wings' 4-2 road win over Maple Leafs epitomizes resiliency following 'a really unique' 24 hours

TORONTO -- The Detroit Red Wings know the exhilaration of victory in the National Hockey League. And never could the Red Wings have enjoyed that uplifting feeling more than they did after Sunday's 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

The Red Wings took off for Toronto following Saturday’s 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Little Caesars Arena, but mechanical issues with the team plane, Red Bird III, forced the club to turn around and spend the night in Detroit.

Although their flight was rescheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, the Red Wings did not leave Detroit until after 4 p.m. ET and arrived at Scotiabank Arena around 6:15 p.m. ET. As a result of the Red Wings' delayed departure, the NHL announced earlier that afternoon that their game against the Maple Leafs would begin at 7:30 p.m. ET instead of 7 p.m. ET.

“Our staff, from top to bottom, all of them went above and beyond for us to have everything we needed to play tonight,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “We had every reason to not show up, and we showed up. We’ve talked about our locker room and how close it is. That should show people right there what it says about the guys in this room.”

Making his first start since Dec. 27, goalie James Reimer finished with 28 saves for the Red Wings (22-16-5; 49 points), who extended their point streak to six straight games and moved into the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs (21-12-8; 50 points), who are winless in their last three games.

“So much adversity where if we don’t have the character we have in here, you could give up, lick your wounds and try again next game,” said Reimer, who spent his first six NHL seasons (2010-16) with Toronto. “But we dug in and just to a man, so proud of the guys.”

In a scoreless first period, Detroit was unable to capitalize on its lone power-play opportunity but killed off three Toronto penalties.

“Our penalty kill was doing really well and then (the media) started talking about it all the time,” Larkin said with a smile. “We had a tough night last night, but we were back on track tonight and made it hard for their big guys to get the puck in the middle of the ice.”

Patrick Kane (lower body) exited at 3:42 of the opening frame following a hit from Maple Leafs’ Pontus Holmberg and did not return to the game.

"I don't think it's related to his hip," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said postgame about Kane's injury. "But again, I don't have all the information yet."

Holmberg gave Toronto a 1-0 lead 32 seconds into the second period by redirecting a point shot from Morgan Rielly for his second goal of the season.

Tying it up for the Red Wings, Larkin scored a one-timer from the left faceoff circle on a behind-the-goal-line feed from David Perron to make it 1-1 at 15:39 of the second period. It was Larkin’s 17th goal of the season, tying Alex DeBrincat for the team lead and pushing his (Larkin) point streak to five straight games.

The Maple Leafs retook a one-goal lead (2-1) just 2:39 later. Mitchell Marner took a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi, who played parts of his first seven NHL seasons (2016-23) with Detroit, while skating in the slot and one-timed it past Reimer.

Daniel Sprong tied it, 2-2, at 2:46 of the third period. After Rielly’s stick broke in Detroit’s defensive zone, Sprong was sent in on a breakaway by DeBrincat and made a slick move in tight to beat Samsonov for his 11th goal of the season.

"Tonight was big," Lalonde said about Sprong's impact on the Red Wings' offense. "Obviously we were trailing going into the third, for him to make the play was huge."

Scoring a goal in his third consecutive game, Andrew Copp's go-ahead tally with 1:40 remaining pushed Detroit ahead, 3-2. Michael Rasmussen picked up the lone assist on the play, which also pushed Copp's point streak to four. 

Lucas Raymond, who was assisted by Ben Chiarot and Larkin, added an empty-netter for his 12th goal of the season to lock down the sweep of Detroit's weekend back-to-back set.

“It was a huge win, a gutsy win, all of the above,” Larkin said. “When everything was stacked up against us, we just battled. You could tell the buy-in there.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will continue their three-game road trip on Wednesday night, squaring off against the defending Eastern Conference-champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on the Red Wings handling adversity

“A really unique 24 hours. I’ve never experienced 24 hours like that. I don’t think anyone in the league has. Weather, mechanical issues. It was crazy. And to show up for a 7 o’clock hockey game in the National Hockey League at 6:15 was very unique and unusual, but I thought our guys handled it pretty well. There were things we couldn’t control in the last 24 hours. The one thing we could control was our effort and execution tonight, and for the most part, pretty good job to the guys.”

Larkin on the tough schedule ahead

“We’re going into, I think, the biggest stretch of our season. Next week we’re at home, but we got Florida and Carolina (Hurricanes) this week on the road. It’s going to show us a lot about our team and tonight, and against L.A. last night, was a great start to that.”

Reimer on Sunday's comeback win

“It truly is a blessing that we get to play this sport for a living. Every once in a while, there’s a special night and tonight is one of those nights. A ton of adversity, backs against the wall, schedule is all messed up, flying in late and all that. Those are games where you can cave, or you can dig in.”

Reimer on his approach and stepping up when called upon sporadically

“Anytime you don’t play for a while, it’s hard to get back in there, get your rhythm. I’ve been trying to practice hard and stay in it. I’ve been working on my mindset a lot, making sure I’m in a good place and set a goal for when I got the opportunity. When I got the opportunity, I just tried to go out there and play. I just do my thing, trust my game.”