The Detroit Red Wings were looking forward to getting home.
Maybe that explains why for 40 minutes of Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Arizona Coyotes, the Wings appeared to be somewhere else.
Down 2-0 after two periods, the Wings rallied for the win, getting a pair of third-period power-play goals and wrapping it up on Danny DeKeyser’s goal 2:08 into the extra session.
“It shows that we've got some resiliency on this team,… DeKeyser said. “We don't give up, we keep pushing 'til the end.
“I think that's a few times this year where we battled right to the end and were able to tie the game and win in overtime or put it into a shootout.…
Thursday marked the fifth time season the Wings entered the third period trailing and rallied to get at least one point.
“That's pretty resilient,… DeKeyser said.
Even more so considering had they lost, the Wings still would have recorded a 4-2 mark on their season-long six-game road trip. They could have been satisfied, but they weren’t.
“It’s been a great road trip for us,… said winger Gustav Nyquist, who tied the game, his first goal since Dec. 20, ending a 10-game goalless drought. “The last game of a long road trip, down 2-0 and we managed to come back and win in overtime. That’s a great win for the team.
“We just said before the third to battle hard and go out and give it our best here, our best try to finish the road trip real strong and we managed to do that, so it’s a great team win for sure.…
They’re Going Home As much as they enjoyed their road success, the Wings would agree with Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz.
There’s no place like home.
“Yeah, huge,… rookie Dylan Larkin, who utilized his speed and puck skills to set up DeKeyser’s OT winner, said of getting back to Detroit. “I don’t think we’re tired. I just think there’s an anxiousness to get home.
“You know, it’s been a long 10 days. This is just a long time away from home. I don’t even have kids and I’m still missing my own bed or just being home and not eating out. It’s just different.
“It’s great. We were lucky in California and Arizona to have great weather, but I think guys are definitely ready to head home.…
The success of the trip made the grind of it worthwhile.
“It’s been a blast,… Larkin said. “It’s just a time where the guys really come together. It’s been a lot of time together and for me, it’s just hanging out with different guys and trying to get to know them, opening up a little bit more.
“It’s been great. We’ve had tons of fun. We’ve had some great days off, and we’ve been winning, so it’s been pretty positive to be around.…
Powering Up Detroit’s power play, quiet the past four games, exploded for a pair of goals 2:30 apart in the third period.
“We needed more from our power play,… Datsyuk said. “We needed more shoot and follow rebound. Of course when it’s a power play working it’s a big help for the team.
“Definitely it’s like a spark. Everybody played well in the third. It started to keep going wave by wave.…
Explaining why the power play has ebbed and flowed so much this season is challenging for the Wings, who don’t feel it’s been poor, but the numbers aren’t adding up.
“I think it’s hard to say,… Nyquist said. “We’ve been battling hard out there all year. I think we’ve created chances. The puck just hasn’t seemed to find the net as much as last year, when we had real strong stats. “You know it’s tough to say but we kept going, we kept battling and it finally came through and we got two big goals out of it.…
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer