When their opponent made it close, the Detroit Red Wings looked to their depth to add distance.
Bottom-six forward Joe Veleno and third-pair defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere were among the standout performers as the Wings rolled out an 8-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, dominating a Washington Capitals team desperate to climb into the playoff picture.
It’s the most goals the Wings have scored this season, and secured their first six-game winning streak since Steve Yzerman was named general manager in April 2019.
Veleno had a goal and assist by early in the second period. Lucas Raymond had the same by the middle of the second period. Raymond and Gostisbehere made it 2-0 after the first period, and when the Capitals halved that lead, Veleno answered; when the Capitals made it 4-2, J.T. Compher scored shorthanded, finishing Andrew Copp’s pass on a rush.
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Alex Lyon only faced 11 shots through two periods. By the time Max Pacioretty scored on a power play midway through the third period, the Wings already had their sixth goal thanks to Robby Fabbri tipping Patrick Kane’s shot. Kane had a hand in Alex DeBrincat’s goal that put the Wings up by four goals with 8 minutes to play.
Larkin got in on the scoring, too, to join the list of Wings with multipoint performances: Kane, Raymond, Compher, Perron, Gostisbehere and Veleno.
Strong start
Anthony Mantha, the former Wings first-round pick traded by Yzerman at the 2021 deadline, maneuvered the puck deep in Detroit’s zone but his shot was blocked by Jake Walman. From there, the Wings built momentum, and it led to a 1-0 lead at 5:45. Veleno sent a pass cross ice to Gostisbehere, whose one-timer from the right circle sank into the far corner. Fabbri took a shot that hit the left post and bounced back out; he caught the puck and put it in the net, but officials disallowed the goal because he played the puck with his hand and it went into the net before it touched his stick. There was nothing to dispute when Raymond took a pass from Compher and ripped a shot from the slot to make it 2-0 at 16:20.
Ex-Wing could be on the move
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Mantha, who turns 30 this year, came into Tuesday with 18 goals and 31 points in 53 games. He’s having his best season since joining the Capitals, and with the team outside the playoff picture and Mantha in the last year of his contract, he could be moved before the March 8 deadline. The Wings, who drafted Mantha at No. 20 in 2013, tired of his inconsistency — at times, he would look like a power forward, but there were longer stretches where he had no impact. The lasting part of the return was the first-round pick that was used to move up to draft goaltender Sebastian Cossa; the transient return was Jakub Vrana, who Yzerman traded last year after that didn’t work out.
Depth delivers again
Veleno added a goal to his earlier assist when he took a pass from Perron in the second period and showed great patience in maneuvering the puck several feet before finding a lane for a quality shot. That was the second goal of the game from the third, which has Andrew Copp in the middle, and made it 3-1 after Hendrix Lapierre put the Caps on the board 2 minutes into the period. Gostisbehere put the Wings up by three goals with his second of the night, taking a pass from Raymond and firing the puck behind Charlie Lindgren.
Contact Helene St. James at [email protected]. Follow her @helenestjames.
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Next up: Islanders
Matchup: Red Wings (33-20-6) vs. N.Y. Islanders (24-20-14).
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Thursday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).
