It was a performance the Detroit Red Wings can take with them down the road, can use for inspiration when needed.

Their second outing of the season was in such contrast to their first, even when they fell behind in the first period. They go into Toronto on Monday, Oct 13, to play the Maple Leafs for the second time in three days having just demonstrated how to be successful.

“I think it speaks volumes of the group with kind of just what we went through the past couple of days,” said Patrick Kane after contributing a goal and two assists in Saturday’s 6-3 victory.

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The past couple days saw the Wings play embarrassingly poorly in their opener, get called out for it by their coach, and challenged to do better. So they did: Even when the Leafs went up 2-0, the Wings stuck with their game plan.

“To bounce back, you know, being down 2-0 and come out a second being up 3-2 is an ideal situation for us,” Kane said. “I know it’s two games into the season, but we prove we can, you know, turn the corner when we face that adversity.”

There was so much to like beyond the much-needed boost of confidence the Wings needed: Marco Kasper scoring midway through the second period, igniting the offense. A late penalty kill that segued into the Leafs pulling their goalie and the Wings facing six skaters the last couple minutes. The play of the rookies: Emmitt Finnie earning his first NHL point; Michael Brandsegg-Nygård holding onto the puck in high traffic, Axel Sandin Pellikka making plays with the puck. Lucas Raymond scoring twice to reach 100 career NHL goals.

And: Not exposing Cam Talbot to the odd-man rushes that chased John Gibson in the 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

“We didn’t give up that bushel full of outnumbered rushes,” coach Todd McLellan said. “I think there was one real clear one, but the goaltender made the save. So that was a real good sign.

“I thought we were a lot more resilient. Obviously going down 2-0 and them scoring on the first shot on goal was not part of the plan. At that point we’d given up seven straight goals. So you talk about being mentally tough, we didn’t roll over. We dug in a little bit more, so that’s a real good sign for us. I just thought we played with more pop and more energy.”

Two games certainly don’t define a season, but for a team that’s come up just short in the playoff standings the last couple seasons, beating a divisional rival means something.

“We’ve been in situations a couple years in a row now where it’s come down to the end, where the margins are very thin,” Raymond said. “It’s about getting off to a good start putting ourselves in a good position and getting good habits. We’ve got all the tools in this locker room and around us to be a really good hockey team.”

A crucial moment came at 14:56 of the third period, when Jonatan Berggren was called for holding. Talbot helped out with two saves as the penalty killers came through with a huge stretch.

“You don’t want to put that team on the power play, especially when you’re 200 feet away from your net,” McLellan said. “It just makes no sense. So give the penalty killers and Talbs credit for getting us through that.