RECAP: Red Wings extend winning streak to three straight games with 4-1 victory over Wild

DETROIT -- David Perron scored twice and Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and three assists for the Detroit Red Wings in a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Goalie Alex Lyon stopped 37 shots to earn his second straight win for Detroit (11-6-3; 25 points), which has won three consecutive games since returning from the 2023 NHL Global Series in Sweden. Minnesota (5-10-4; 14 points) is winless in its past seven games.

“It felt more of a grind than what we saw in the last two games,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said of Sunday’s matinee. “It felt like we found another way to win a game in a different way against a really good team.”

And just like that, a quarter of Detroit's 2023-24 season is in the books.

“We’re happy with it, but it’s just a start,” Lalonde said about the club's first 20 games this season. “I give our guys credit not to ride too high or low. The Europe (trip), one point in two games was a very emotional low. We had to sit on it for a long time. I give our guys credit for handling it well. This is no different. This is obviously a high, taking six points in the last three games.”

The Red Wings killed off an early Wild penalty in the first period, then it was Detroit’s turn on the power play at 3:09. Taking a pass from Gostisbehere just below the blue line, Lucas Raymond made a slick move to beat a pair of Minnesota players before finding Perron in the left face-off circle. Perron one-timed Raymond’s feed into the net, making it 1-0 at 4:06.

With the primary assist on Perron’s first goal of the afternoon, Raymond pushed his point streak to six straight games.

The Wild tied it, 1-1, on the power play with 11 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

While skating 4-on-4, Detroit captain Dylan Larkin pushed his goal streak to three straight games when he buried his own rebound past Minnesota netminder Filip Gustavsson at 16:53 of the second period to put the Red Wings ahead, 2-1. Gostisbehere had the lone assist. 

“He’ll get on you if you’re not playing the right way," Gostisbehere said about Larkin. "He leads on and off the ice.”

Perron padded Detroit’s lead to 3-1 on the power play at 1:29 of the third period. After Larkin passed the puck to Gostisbehere, he sent it to Perron for a one-timer. It was Perron’s 300th career NHL goal.

“It felt great,” Perron said about reaching the 300-goal milestone. “Good plays by the guys on the ice today to get me open for a couple looks.”

At 19:37, Gostisbehere, who was assisted by J.T. Compher and Michael Rasmussen, added an empty-netter to seal the victory.

“It’s up to us to keep finding ways to get points,” Perron said. “I think the challenge now is heading back to New York, where we didn’t play great at all last time. We proved that we can play good in Boston. We showed it (Friday) after the first game (against the Bruins) wasn’t good, so it’s up to us to do that next game again.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will hit the road for an Original Six matchup on Wednesday night, battling the New York Rangers at the iconic Madison Square Garden.

QUOTABLE

Perron on the benefits of taking an early lead

“It’s big for sure, but again, I just go back to the way we play. We take care of each other. It’s what it is supposed to feel like. You’re not even worried at all on the bench. There’s going to be games that you can still play that way and you don’t find a way to get two points. But for the most part, when we do that, I think we’re going to have a lot of success.”

Perron on another strong performance from Lyon

“It’s incredible. We’ve seen it since Training Camp, the way he just stays on the ice, takes one-timers and shots from everyone. We saw how he has played in the past in his career as well. He’s a great goalie. You’re just only happy for him and you hope he can keep it going for us.”

Gostisbehere on Detroit’s recent success on special teams

“It’s easier to start with the puck than trying to break out. It was a little gut check for the guys on special teams. It’s going good, but like I said, it can dry up easy. We need to be the team that we can be and keep going.”

Gostisbehere on the club’s current morale

“After that game in Sweden against Toronto, when we gave up a two-goal lead in the third and didn’t get any points out of it, Larks, the leader he is, said, ‘Keep getting undressed but we need to figure out the type of team we’re going to be.’ I think guys realized that. We looked ourselves in the mirror and realized if we do it the right way, we’re going to get results. It’s really been working.”