Kane, Larkin supply heroics as Wings defeat Colorado 2-1 in OT

Detroit – All things considered the Red Wings earned an impressive two points Thursday night.

Coming back from a West Coast trip and playing a Stanley Cup contending opponent, the Wings rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory on Patrick Kane’s 10th goal.

Dylan Larkin found a trailing Kane in the slot, and Kane beat goaltender Justus Annunen at 3 minutes 42 seconds to complete the comeback.

Larkin’s power play goal, his 25th, tied the game 1-1 in the third period, while Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored his 34th goal in the second period, as the Wings ended a 10-game losing streak to the Avalanche dating to 2017.

Larkin took a pass from David Perron in the slot and batted a puck past Annunen at 12:02 of the third period, tying the game.

Coach Derek Lalonde and Wings players talked about how this would be a good litmus test for the Wings, playing a potential Stanley Cup finalist. The Wings fared well in the challenge.

More: BOX SCORE: Red Wings 2, Avalanche 1 (OT)

“Great challenge,” said Lalonde after the morning skate of facing the Avalanche. “I’ve alluded to it, we’ve put ourselves in a decent position here but it’s going to be about us,and going getting it (a playoff position). There are opportunities.”

Lalonde feels MacKinnon centering Jonathan Drouin and Mikko Rantanen could be one of the best lines in the NHL. They got the Avalanche on the scoreboard first.

Rantanen got possession of the puck in the corner and found MacKinnon driving down the slot. MacKinnon beat goaltender Alex Lyon high for his 34th goal, at 3:48 of the second period.

“It’s the most dynamic first line in hockey,” Lalonde said.

It wasn’t surprising MacKinnon got on the scoreboard considering the dominant season he’ having. The goal was his 93rd point, as MacKinnon is forging a potential Most Valuable Player-type of season.

Lalonde calls MacKinnon an “elite difference maker”.

“His ability to make plays with pace,” said Lalonde of what stands out. “Guys can play fast, (Connor) McDavid is in that same category, but just the ability to make plays and then you put in Cale (Makar) and they are the same elite difference makers. There are difference makers in this league, but then there are elite difference makers.

“We don’t play them (the Avalanche) a ton but even last year, we played a pretty good game in Colorado and the underlying numbers say we were pretty good, but we lost 5-1. And it was MacKinnon and Makar and MacKinnon and Makar and some individual plays (up down the scoresheet).”

Then there was the fact the Wings returned late Monday night from a week-long swing through western Canada and Seattle. Rarely do teams look particularly sharp in that first game back from a long trip like that, getting their legs and energy level back up to speed.

“That’s been hockey forever,” Lalonde said. “Especially the way that West Coast trip played out, we went from Mountain Time to Pacific back to Mountain Time and back to Pacific. I felt tired this morning, and I can only imagine the guys. We’ve talked the last two days about the importance to see where our energy is and fight through it and manage the game properly early on.”

Lalonde talked earlier in the week about the tough road the Wings still have to embark on to solidify a playoff spot.

Many projections still have the Wings missing the playoffs.

“There’s still projections out there that people send me that we’re a low 20 percent chance, and some teams chasing us are 67 percent chance of making it,” Lalonde said. “I get it with these projections and AI and all that, but that’s why you just shut things off. Live in the moment and if we are going to stay in this battle and be fortunate enough to be there in the end, it’s going to be what we do.”

Even with the Wings among the hottest teams in the NHL since January, they have barely created any breathing room for themselves.

“We had a 9-2-2 stretch before the (All-Star) break and we’re 3-2 after the break,” Lalonde said. “If you would have told us you got Vancouver twice, Edmonton, you’re at Calgary, at Seattle, any team in the league would take a 3-2 segment. And here we are, we can’t separate.

“It’s going to be more about us going after it. I talked about 95, 97, 100 points. I still think it’s going to be around 97 points (to make the playoffs). We’ll be watching what’s going on around us, but we just have to take care of our business.”

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

@tkulfan