Kane scores twice in Red Wings win against Flames

DETROIT -- Patrick Kane scored twice, and Alex DeBrincat had three assists to help the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Calgary Flames 5-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Monday.

“It was good to see (Kane) and (DeBrincat) get rewarded for their elevated play,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “They’ve been doing it for five or six games now, and we are going to need it.”

Emmitt Finnie, Moritz Seider and Dominik Shine also scored for the Red Wings (37-23-8), who had lost five of six (1-3-2). John Gibson made 25 saves.

Detroit moved one point ahead of the Boston Bruins, who have one game in hand, for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets, who have two games in hand, are three points back.

“At this time of the year, every game is important, so this was big,” Gibson said. “We need to start racking up some wins, so this was a good start.”

Matt Coronato had a goal and an assist for the Flames (26-34-7), who went 1-4-0 on a five-game road trip and have lost eight of 10 overall (2-7-1). Dustin Wolf made 20 saves.

“I thought our first period was pretty good,” Coronato said. “After that, I think we loosened up and let the game open up. They took advantage of it.”

Morgan Frost gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 17:35 of the first period, tapping in Matvei Gridin’s backdoor pass at the left post on a 2-on-1 rush.

Detroit responded by scoring three times in a 5:34 span early in the second period.

Kane tied the game 1-1 at 1:03 of the second, beating Wolf glove side on a breakaway after receiving a stretch pass from DeBrincat.

“We gave up too many odd-man rushes, and I think a little bit of that is a lack of recognition of who you are on the ice against,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “I mean, Patrick Kane is a pretty good player.”

Kane's line with DeBrincat and J.T. Compher has become crucial to the Red Wings in the absence of forwards Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp, who are each out at least two weeks with a lower-body injury.

“Patrick understands the situation and the need for him to elevate,” McLellan said. “He’s capable of doing it and he is doing it. He drags some people into the game.”

Finnie made it 2-1 at 5:06. He left a drop pass inside the blue line to Lucas Raymond, who then found a streaking Albert Johansson in the right circle, where he sent a backhand pass to Finnie for a tap-in over Wolf's right pad.

Kane pushed it to 3-1 at 6:37 by reaching out with his backhand and redirecting another pass from DeBrincat over Wolf’s shoulder and under the crossbar from in tight.

“We had a lot of chances, a lot of good looks,” Kane said. “We probably could have had a couple more.”

Coronato answered back 46 seconds later to cut it to 3-2. His attempted pass on a 2-on-1 rush hit Seider’s skate and deflected five-hole on Gibson at 7:23.

Seider quickly redeemed himself by scoring a power-play goal at 11:45. He skated in from the point and beat Wolf with a shot through traffic to make it 4-2.

Shine shot into an empty net to make it 5-2 at 18:55 of the third period.

NOTES: Kane has 63 points (27 goals, 36 assists) in 50 career games against the Flames. DeBrincat has 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 20 career games against them. ... Unusually for the Red Wings, Seider did not lead the team in ice time. He played 20:35, while Compher played 21:15 and defenseman Justin Faulk played a team-high 22:04. ... The Flames are 0-7-1 in their past eight games against the Red Wings.