Red Wings end road trip with 2-1 OT loss to Flyers

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News on Jan 21, 2025

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — This four-game road trip that everyone felt was going to somehow define the Red Wings is finally over.

What we learned about them is, there's still probably much to be learned, although Tuesday's 2-1 overtime loss in Philadelphia gave the Wings a less than .500 trip (1-2-1).

Patrick Kane just missed on a scoring chance in overtime and the Flyers came rushing down the other end. Philadelphia's Rasmus Ristolainen tapped in a loose puck in the crease after Owen Tippett's drive was stopped by goaltender Alex Lyon, who made the save but the puck lay in the crease.

Ben Chiarot tied the game, 1-1, just 30 seconds into the third period with his second goal.

Dylan Larkin dug the puck out of the corner and fed Lucas Raymond near the dot. Raymond found Chiarot pinching from the point and fed Chiarot, who snapped a shot over goaltender Samuel Ersson.

Philadelphia's Joel Farabee put the Flyers ahead 1-0 with a second-period goal. Sean Couturier made a little backhand feed while falling to Farabee cutting through the slot. Farabee went forehand, then backhand, and beat Lyon at 5:21 of the second period.

The Wings (21-21-5) are five points behind the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point worse than when they started the trip. The Wings are now three points behind Philadelphia (22-20-6).

After Tuesday's morning skate, coach Todd McLellan repeated what he has mentioned often since taking over Dec. 26. McLellan isn't looking at the standings and doesn't want Wings' players to look at them. He said it's simply a matter of getting better and improving every day and things will take care of itself.

"Same as any other night for the Red Wings, they're all important," McLellan said of the value of two points. "I sound like a broken record but I'm not looking in there (locker room) looking at the standings. It's about watching video and trying to get better night after night. It's the only way we're going to get wins."

McLellan found some positives, but also negatives, in the first three games of the trip.

"On this trip we've been able to beat the Stanley Cup champions (Florida, 5-2) but two other teams in a weight class maybe more elevated than us, we haven't had success (Tampa 5-1, Dallas, 4-1)," McLellan said. "That's a little disappointing, and we've had to fix some things via doing it by video and a little bit on the ice and challenging a few players.

"We'll see what happens."

The Wings have only two games in the last 23 games in Philadelphia (2-18-3). McLellan was impressed scouting the Flyers before the game.

"They play a team game, typical Torts (coach John Tortorella)," McLellan said. "He's done an outstanding job here. I have a ton of respect for him and how he carries himself with this team and how he holds people accountable. There's a lot of that in that team. They play as (a team of) 20 and as groups of five and they play that way all over the ice. They're committed to winning.

"If you try to cheat your way through the night, good luck. You'll be jumping on the plane without a win. If you're willing to play your own team game, you give yourself a chance."