DETROIT — As the Red Wings continue to string victories together and work on ending a long playoff drought, there might be something equally important going on, within the foundation and structure of the team.

A winning culture, a culture of “team,” and confidence that everyone on the roster can contribute to the Wings winning, is being formed.

Sunday’s 3-2 overtime victory over Washington was an example.

As part of the mothers’ trip over the weekend, coach Todd McLellan and his staff were intent on playing everyone on the roster.

So despite the victory the day before, McLellan scratched forward Marco Kasper and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker on Sunday, as Mason Appleton, who was activated earlier in the morning off the injured list, came in for Kasper, while Travis Hamonic replaced Bernard-Docker.

Goaltender Cam Talbot got the start Sunday instead of John Gibson, who had a relatively easy workload Saturday afternoon and could have easily played two games in two afternoons.

But McLellan wanted everyone to get a game in front of their mothers.

It worked. And the culture was further emboldened.

“We preach ‘team’ all the time,” McLellan said. “That’s part of our culture. Not just the players, but the training staff and everybody (in the organization). The right thing to do was to give everybody an opportunity to play in front of their moms.

“Now, did we ice our best lineup? We did, we won the game. Some could argue one way or another, but that’s what we believe in and that’s part of our culture. We had to tell Kasp, and how do you pick who comes out? Everybody played well in Washington. Dock (Docker) didn’t deserve to come out. Gibby deserved to go back in net. But we do things as a team.

“We talked to all of those guys and they were very understanding and they were rooting for the ones that went in.

“We ask players to trust us as an organization, as a staff, and we have to pay that back to them, too. We have to trust they can all play or they shouldn’t be here. When we get into this sort of a situation, we believe in everybody that is here, and we gave them a chance to play in front of their moms. I know some would say this is the NHL and you don’t do that — but sometimes you do.”

 

Making an impact

John Leonard has given the Wings a spark since being recalled from Grand Rapids, replacing the injured Patrick Kane.

Leonard’s goal Sunday was his second in two games and extended his point streak to three games (two goals, one assist in that span), marking the longest such run of his NHL career.

“Any time a player comes up, you hope he can have an impact, and especially like how he’s been playing like that in Grand Rapids,” McLellan said. “He does have some experience, he’s played in the league (NHL) before, so it’s not like a whole bunch of nerves. He can settle in and use his tool set.

“He’s been real good since he’s been up here. (Coaches) talk about playing players and not worrying about or being afraid of putting them on the ice, John is like that. In overtime, you’re putting him out there. I know he scored an important goal, but the work he did in the neutral zone, along the boards, that’s something we talked about after the first (period).

“His board work was something that kept the whole play alive and he wound up getting rewarded. We’re happy to have him right now.”

Leonard isn’t putting any sort of extra pressure onto himself.

“I try to take it day by day, practice by practice and shift by shift,” Leonard said. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here. Whether it’s one more game or whatever the case may be, obviously I don’t know, but day by day, try to make the most of it and work as hard as I can.”

It’ll be at least one more game. McLellan said after Sunday’s victory Kane (upper-body) will not be ready before Christmas. There’s a chance, McLellan said, that Kane could return the first game back, Dec. 27 in Carolina. Kane has missed the last four games.

Ice chips

Moritz Seider’s overtime goal Sunday was his third career overtime goal, tying Danny DeKeyser and Jake Walman, and trailing only Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall in franchise history, who both had four in their career.

… Lucas Raymond has 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in his last 22 games after scoring a goal Sunday.

… With two assists, Andrew Copp has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) and a plus-11 rating in his last 10 games.

… Talbot is 4-0-0 this season while making 30 or more saves. Talbot had 31 in Sunday’s victory.

… The Wings lead the NHL with 53 second-period goals. They are 16-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes, and 8-1-1 when doing so on home ice.

DETROIT – There aren’t many chances in an NHL regular season to have a full-scale, physical practice like the Red Wings had Tuesday.

This season’s schedule, in particular, is so condensed because of the Olympics, that it’s rare a team is off three days like the Wings currently are.

But after two consecutive losses – and three in four games – and needing to shake up the look of the team a bit, coach Todd McLellan made it feel almost like training camp Tuesday with a competitive practice.

“We don’t get a lot of time during the season to practice the way we did today,” McLellan said. “We just can’t because you have so many games in a short time frame. They expended a lot of energy (Tuesday). It was physical, a lot of battling, and so it gave us a chance to have a practice like that.

“But also to remind them that’s an important part of the game.”

After reviewing the losses to the New York Rangers and Chicago (by a 9-2 combined score), McLellan felt the Wings had offensive opportunities score on several odd-man rushes.

“That part of the game is OK,” McLellan said. “It’s what happens when we settled into the offensive zone and feeder shots getting to the net, and are we near the net or through the goalie’s eyes or are we around rebounds? Conversely, on the other end, are we doing a good job (in those areas)?

“That type of practice was designed because of time and a need for the group.”

Getting to the net and disrupting the opposing goaltender are things the Wings need to do during this recent offensive power outage.

“Being stronger in front of the goalie’s eyes,” forward Alex DeBrincat said. “We’re getting a lot of shots but a lot of them are from the point and no one is in front and going through the goalie’s eyes. It’s pretty hard in this league if you don’t do that. That was an emphasis today (in practice), and playing in front of the net at both ends of the ice.”

McLellan also changed the look of the lineup, keeping the lines the Wings’ finished with in Sunday’s game.

That meant DeBrincat with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, and Emmitt Finnie with J.T. Compher and Patrick Kane.

“Sometimes lines get a little stale, and it’s no reflection on Cat or Emmitt or anybody else,” McLellan said. “We’re just trying to do different things. Both lines played better after the change in the third period (Sunday). Are we going to do that against Anaheim (Thursday)? We’ll see.”

DeBrincat was excited about potentially skating with Larkin and Raymond.

“Two great players, and obviously fun to play with them,” DeBrincat said. “They have a lot of speed. They can make a lot of plays and hopefully we can have the puck a lot during the game. Those two guys are good defensively and we can create chances off their turnovers and go down and play with the puck, where we’re more comfortable.”

Both DeBrincat and Kane, who are known for their on-ice chemistry, said occasional line changes like these don’t change the way they play with new linemates.

“I try to stick to the same stuff with them,” DeBrincat said. “We can all rotate on who is getting on pucks and all of us just try to hunt pucks quick and create turnovers in the offensive zone. That’s kind of how we feed off each other, with us three, and create offense that way.

“If we can play a simple game and play in their end and get pucks back, we’ll be fine.”

Said Kane: “Maybe without Cat on that side you look for your shot a little more, or maybe try to get to the net a little more. But it’s still being who you are as a player, and it’s the same thing with Finnie or J.T.; it’s the player that you are.”

McLellan said Sunday the recall of Nate Danielson was a chance to potentially ignite the Wings’ offense and take a look at different combinations. It wasn’t, as social media suggested, to necessarily ignite trade discussions.

“My son called me (Sunday) and said, ‘Oh, you guys are trading some players,’” McLellan said. “No, we’re not. That doesn’t mean we won’t or ever will, but that’s not the reason. Danny (Danielson) is here because he’s played well in training camp and we have players who are struggling, and we feel he can inject some life and enthusiasm into the team and maybe provide us with some offense.

“He’s earned the right to do that after training camp. We can put him in and see how he looks with other players and maybe we can find combinations and evaluate. But it’s not about (general manager) Steve (Yzerman) buying airline tickets and sending people all over the place.”