The Detroit Red Wings continued their hot start, rolling out a fifth straight victory.
Alex DeBrincat’s hat trick required a third-period cleanup of the ice at Little Caesars Arena Sunday evening as the Wings doused the Flames, 6-2 and the surface was flooded with headgear from the stands. DeBrincat also had an assist to take the lead in the NHL scoring race with 12 points; Dylan Larkin’s multipoint game gave him 11 points on the season.
Less than two weeks into the season, the Wings are 5-1-0 and top the NHL with 30 goals. They next play Tuesday (8:23 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit) at LCA against the Seattle Kraken.
RED SWAG: Wings’ swagger growing after this early season start. Just don’t talk about it
DeBrincat and Joe Veleno scored in the first period, and Larkin and DeBrincat in the second. Andrew Mangiapane became the first player to score this season on James Reimer, taking advantage of a scramble down low to put the Flames on the scoreboard at 12:12 of the second period. Yegor Sharangovich scored late in the second period to pull the Flames within two, but Jake Walman’s slap shot early in the third period helped the Wings pull away; they also held the Flames at bay when they had a two-man power play for 1:16 late in the final frame.
It’s raining hats for the ‘Cat
One day after having his four-game point streak snapped in the Wings’ 5-2 victory at the Ottawa Senators, DeBrincat was back in form. He was buzzing down low when defenseman Justin Holl got a hold of the puck and sent it out front, where the Farmington Hills native was ready to pounce — and finish. Less than two minutes into the game, the Wings ha a 1-0 lead. DeBrincat scored again at 13:33 of the second period and brought a shower of hats to the ice when he scored for the third time early in the third period.
Production from the back end
Holl, signed as a free agent in the offseason, was the last of the team’s defensemen to contribute a point, but shortly after earning his first assist, he also had a hand in the Wings’ second goal. It was defenseman Ben Chiarot who took the shot; the puck hit Veleno en route past Dan Vladar. Holl picked up a third assist on DeBrincat’s third goal and finished with a plus-4 rating.
Streaking captain
Larkin scored off a feed from DeBrincat two minutes into the second period to put the Wings up by three goals. It was Larkin’s second goal of the weekend and third of the season, and 10th point. He had an assist in each of the first two games, a goal in the third, three assists in the fourth game, and a goal and two assists in the Ottawa game. Larkin then set up DeBrincat’s second goal to record a third straight multipoint game.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings win fifth straight, top Calgary Flames, 6-2
