Detroit Red Wings defeat Seattle in OT; come home with 4 points from road trip

The Detroit Red Wings are wrapping up their road trip out west, playing a Presidents' Day game against the Seattle Kraken. It turned out well for the Red Wings, who were able to snatch up two points with an overtime win over the Kraken. It also sealed up the road trip with four of eight possible points, which was a good result considering some of their opponents.

It was good to see Detroit go out west and have success once again. They may not have swept the trip like they did when they went out west to California and made some noise, but they did come away with four points, keeping them in the hunt for a postseason berth.

Today's contest was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams traded blows and handed scoring chances and opportunities to one another. It was pretty impressive, honestly, how much the game felt like it had swung one way or the other. Detroit kept the lead for most of the game, but Seattle kept the pressure on the whole time.

Coming away with two points in this one certainly feels good. It's a nice bonus for the Detroit Red Wings to go out and secure some more points for the plane ride home. Every single win and point counts as the team is looking to make a push toward a postseason berth in 2023-24.

Detroit Red Wings secure overtime win against Seattle.

It was a big win for Detroit after killing off a penalty that had bled into overtime and then regrouping to make it a 4-3 victory over the Kraken. But things got started early for Detroit when Moritz Seider picked up a goal on a shot from the point, a goal Joey Daccord would probably like back.

Kraken forward Jared McCann answered back later with a goal of his own. Things stayed 1-1 heading into the first intermission, but both teams made the most of their chances. In the second, Lucas Raymond showed off the hand-eye, making an excellent play in front of the net to pot a goal off a rebound, corralling it and firing it home for the goal.

After that, McCann tallied his second goal after striking again. He got a good position in front of the net and was able to somehow get a stick on a bouncing puck in front that hit goaltender Alex Lyon, Olli Määttä (I believe), McCann's skate, and his stick before squeaking past Lyon for the goal.

Soon after that, though, Daniel Sprong got his revenge goal. He caught a nice feed on a beautiful setup from Christian Fischer, drawing the defender his way before dishing it to Sprong. His quick release helped him beat Daccord with plenty of real estate to fire it home and give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead. Plus, it had to feel nice to score against his old team after signing with Detroit this off-season.

Then, in the third period, it was a Jaden Schwartz goal that tied it up once again. There was a delayed Red Wings penalty, and the Kraken started cycling the puck. It was fed to Schwarts, who ripped a shot into the empty net. Lyon had fallen over trying to work laterally, and Schwartz made the most of his opportunity.

Things headed to overtime, with Detroit taking a late-game penalty, but they battled to kill it off. That's when Chiarot joined the offensive zone efforts, crashing down the middle lane between the circles, getting the puck, and firing it home for the game-winner.

Key takeaways in Detroit Red Wings win vs. Seattle

Simply put, the team's defensive zone efforts still need work. More specifically, the net-front presence was rough. There were far too many times when the team either lost positional battles or just left someone open in front. It's not a new problem, but Seattle was able to exploit this to create offense in this match-up.

Piggybacking off that point, the physicality needs to show up more in the defensive zone. While Detroit's roster is not that physical, they have stepped up at times, but the consistency of the physical play is not always there. Detroit struggled to show physicality in the defensive zone, which sometimes hurt them.

Tip the cap to the breakout today. The Red Wings looked phenomenal in transition, especially working the breakout from their own zone. There was just something about it that seemed really clean while watching this game, seeing the forwards fill in gaps and create open space for other players. Crisp passes, clean skating, and a well-organized breakout ultimately helped Detroit flip the ice at times, and it was worth noting.

Detroit heads back home with four more points. They're back in action on Thursday as Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche come to town.