Alex DeBrincat scored twice and Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings posted a critical 4-2 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Lucas Raymond also scored for Detroit, which had lost four of its last five games, all in regulation. With the win, the Red Wings (40-27-8, 88 points) jumped ahead of the Flyers (37-26-12, 86 points) in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Detroit is now tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators for the final wild-card spot in the East. Columbus has played one more game than the other two teams.
Tyson Foerster scored for the Flyers after missing the previous four months with an upper-body injury. Travis Konecny also scored for Philadelphia, while Samuel Ersson made 15 saves.
Playing in his second NHL game, Flyers prospect Porter Martone led the team with nine shots and also recorded his first career point. Still, he was unable to solve Red Wings goaltender John Gibson, who finished with 32 saves.
The key sequence came when the teams combined for three goals in just over a minute midway through the third period.
With Detroit holding a 2-1 lead, Kane skated in on a 2-on-1 and beat Ersson to the short side. However, Philadelphia responded 52 seconds later as Martone’s shot caromed off a hard-charging Konecny and into the net.
The Flyers’ momentum didn’t last long, though, as DeBrincat scored from a sharp angle – his 39th goal of the season – just 15 seconds after Philadelphia restored the deficit to one.
Gibson held firm down the stretch, giving a huge boost to the Red Wings’ playoff hopes.
Detroit opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period. Kane attracted multiple defenders near the boards before finding a wide-open DeBrincat, whose shot from the slot beat Ersson.
Philadelphia quickly tied it up early in the second period, as Foerster scored in his first game since Dec. 1.
Raymond’s goal made it 2-1 late in the second period. The puck caromed off the skate of J.T. Compher to Raymond, whose rocket sailed past Ersson for his 25th of the campaign.
