The Detroit Red Wings looked like they were falling right back into the streaky team they have been all season. Down 3-1 in the third period, the Wings had been outscored a ridiculous 8-1 over the last five, going on six, frames, and nothing was going their way.
Then came the big comeback. It started with Ben Chiarot of all people putting one in the back of the net for his second goal of the season, with helpers from Patrick Kane and Moritz Seider. Then Seider scored the game-tying goal with assists from Emmitt Finnie and Nate Danielson.
That was enough to put the game into overtime, where Alex DeBrincat completed the comeback for the Wings as Chiarot and Kane pitched in with assists. And for DeBrincat, scoring a game-winner in the clutch that put the Red Wings back into first place in the Atlantic for the time being puts another tally mark in the column of why he should be on Team USA come the Winter Olympics.
It marked DeBrincat's tenth goal of the season and 24th point in just 22 games, so nobody should be keeping a closer eye on his play than Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.
Changes to the Red Wings lineup on Saturday
Head coach Todd McLellan left Red Wings fans in the dark in the day leading up to the game about any possible changes to the lineup. With no decisions, it's easy to err on the side of telling yourself, "This isn't gonna be good," and assume the worst.
But that wasn't the case. The Wings had Emmitt Finnie go into this one alongside Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin, while Alex DeBrincat started playing opposite Patrick Kane and beside J.T. Compher. Marco Kasper started on the Copp line, and Jonatan Berggren got the nod in this one over Michael Rasmussen.
With Simon Edvinsson out because of an illness, Jacob Bernard-Docker got the nod on the blue line. Despite Bernard-Docker playing his usual limited minutes, note that the Red Wings are now 8-3 when he suits up for a game.
The most important change was Cam Talbot manning the net over John Gibson. That one should have put fans at ease, considering the uncertainty a lot of them were feeling the day before the game. And after he made 31 saves in 34 shots for a 0.912 save percentage, how many more times do we need to keep doing this?
There is no way the Wings need to keep flip-flopping between Gibson and Talbot. They are in first place heading into Sunday, and they need to go with the netminder who will give them the best chance to help keep them in first place. That's Talbot.
Detroit Red Wings prove another major point
Nearly one month ago, the Red Wings pulled off an outrageous comeback against the St. Louis Blues. If you remember it right, the Blues jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Wings roared back with six unanswered.
That alone showed us that the Wings were capable of pulling off major comebacks in their home arena, and Saturday's win over the Blue Jackets further reinforced that. So the Wings are proving one thing when they're playing at Little Caesars Arena: Never count them out, because they're more than capable of snagging the W even when things look hopeless.
And it won't be long before we see if the Wings can put up a convincing win on the road when they head into Newark on Monday to face the New Jersey Devils. Four of the Wings' last five road games have been decided by just one goal, so if they buck that trend on Monday, then maybe they're getting their act together on the road, where they are 5-4-0.