When compiling a list of players likely to spark a third-period rally for the Detroit Red Wings, you’d probably write down several names before you got to Justin Abdelkader.
Abdelkader scored in his usual fashion, by crashing the net, to tie the game at the 13-minute mark of the third period by tipping home Brian Lashoff’s shot, then beat two Winnipeg Jets along the boards before delivering a sweet feed in the slot to Tomas Tatar, who buried the winner just 2:10 later as the Wings rallied for a 4-3 victory Thursday at the MTS Centre.
“Obviously he just keeps getting better,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of Abdelkader. “Abby can be a real force. He's got to continue to skate, work hard and play simple and then he can be a force for us.”
Abdelkader, whose goal was his 100th NHL point, may not possess the individual skill of Detroit’s elite stars, but with six goals 19 games into the season, he’s already more than halfway to equaling his career high of 10 recorded in each of the last two seasons.
“He's always in first on the forecheck, strong on the puck and hits people, always wins pucks,” Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist said of Abdelkader. “He's got a good shot and can put the puck in the net so I'm sure he's going to score a lot of goals.”
Abdelkader’s physical work in the corners and along the boards and his net-front presence are proving invaluable to a Wings team not overburdened by an abundance of large forwards.
“Sure, no question about it,” Babcock said. “But the reality is you’ve got to want to go there. But you're not scoring unless you go there. You look at the goals every night in the league and that's reality.”
Comeback Kids
The Wings are now 3-2-2 when trailing after two periods this season.
“They were better than us early,” Babcock said. “They came out and they were physical and we were kind of standing around watching them, and didn’t want to get involved in the game.
“Our goaltender (Petr Mrazek) was good and our penalty kill was good. It kept us in the game, and then we got upset or whatever we did, we finally dug in and got playing.
“Once we got executing and we had lots of opportunity around their net, so in the end it’s a big road win for us.”
Career Best
Tomas Tatar continued his hot streak as the line of Abdelkader, Tatar and Riley Sheahan was easily Detroit’s most dominant on the night.
“To be honest with you I didn’t think Tats was very good,” Babcock said. “But it was like a lot of us, weren’t very good, and then we got going.
“Tats is a competitive kid. I might be harder on Tats than anybody on the team just because I think Tats has a chance to be a real player. We’re going to hold him to that. We think he should be good every night because he’s capable of being good every night and every shift. So we expect a lot from Tats and he’s capable of doing that.”
With a pair of goals and a helper on Abdelkader’s tally, the three points were a career high for Tatar, who now has points in four straight games (4-3-7) and has recorded 7-4-11 numbers in his last 10 games, after recorded a solitary point through his first nine games of the campaign.
“I told you guys, I wasn’t worried about it at all,” Tatar said of his slow start to the season. “You won’t lose it if you can’t find the net once. I’m not afraid I’m not going to score goals. It’s all about confidence, keep shooting the puck. It eventually will find the net.
“Earlier in the season I still had chances, I just couldn’t for some reason find the net. Right now it gives you a boost of confidence. After scoring a few goals you feel good about yourself but more importantly, the team is winning and everybody is feeling really well.”
Canadian Content
Thursday’s win was Detroit’s first regular-season triumph in the city of Winnipeg since a 5-2 victory over the previous edition of the Jets on March 10, 1996. Overall, the Wings are 3-7-2 in their last 10 regular-season games at Winnipeg.
Mrazek has fared much better in Canada. The Detroit goalie, who made his first start of the season Thursday, is now 2-0 in Canada as an NHLer and both victories came during the month of November. Mrazek backstopped the Wings to a 5-0 shutout at Edmonton on Nov. 2, 2013.
This time, Mrazek also got the better of his buddy, Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who took the loss.
“I feel great right now,” Mrazek said. “We’re good friends but when I step on the ice it’s a game and everyone wants to win.
“I’m really happy that I beat Ondrej.”

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