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Detroit Finds Unlikely Hero for Second Win
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- Detroit Finds Unlikely Hero for Second Win
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
DETROIT- The one win Red Wings hosted the winless Philadelphia Flyers at home tonight in what would prove to be the battle to be atop the bottom of the barrel with the Red Wings scraping past the Flyers Red Wings to win 2-1.
Detroit, who have largely looked to be playing sharp, if inefficient hockey, found themselves playing down to the struggling Flyers.
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However, when it came to get down and dirty, the Red Wings bottom six was able to pull through tonight, with the much maligned Michael Rasmussen feeding Andrew Copp the winning goal for his first since March.
Unlikely heroes
"We're not gonna sit here and evaluate Ras on points… He checks, he takes hits to create opportunities for other players. He's loosened pucks up on the forecheck," head coach Todd Mclellan said, "I think he's held up his end of the bargain."
Certainly the Red Wings didn't play a pretty game tonight. By the end of the second period despite winning the penalty battle, the Red Wings led the Flyers in giveaways 15-5. They did manage to keep the score at 1-1 thanks to Anton Johansson 's first career goal coming off the penalty kill. Detroit's jumbled forward lines struggled to find their footing tonight, but managed to find the win by doing the little things right.
ANJO BEAUTY🥳 @MichelobULTRA | #ULTRAmoments pic.twitter.com/gNoXpC8VWc
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 16, 2026
"There's just that extra 2% of you know, finishing or getting pucks out or that extra battle won can kind of be the difference at the end of the day," Copp said, "I think though, it's important to keep that confidence from how we feel like we're playing."
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Building blocks
The Red Wings margin for victory has been narrow this year, but tonight Detroit was able to win on home ice with an effective defense that managed to keep the Flyers off the board with the man advantage two times tonight.
It was, for the most part, a heavy checking matchup to find who would make the most mistakes.
"Today was a bit of a muddy start, or a murky start if you wanted to call it that. There wasn't a lot going on." McLellan said, "And then we started to play our way into it a little bit more, [with] more polish as it goes on."
However, the Red Wings will need to capitalize more on their own chances. The team was 0-for-4 on the power play tonight and have yet to score first and win a game . Every game has been a battle, usually with them playing from behind.
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There's also not a stat or a way to track it (that I'm aware of), but the Red Wings have had multiple opportunities dating back to last year where an opposing goaltender has lost their stick for an extended period, and Detroit has not scored once during any of them.
For the Red Wings, this year isn't just about finding the hard goals and winning with your worst players. It's going to be about, to mix sports metaphors, making the easy layups and staying on top of the ball.
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