Detroit Red Wings suddenly playing with swagger. Here's why

NEWARK, N.J. — Dylan Larkin threw his arms around Anthony Mantha, then threw his arms around other teammates as the Detroit Red Wings celebrated on Saturday.

The Wings have done a lot of that lately, playing with swagger as they’ve fought back after a miserable start to the season. They've won eight of their past 10 games, including Saturday's 3-2 overtime victory over the New Jersey Devils.  And though the schedule has been easier than it was in October, the Wings deserve credit for finding a way to turn things around.

“It’s awesome,” Larkin said. “It feels good coming in after games. We’re finding ways to win, instead of last year where it was going the opposite way and we were leading and we found ways to have nights where we’d fall apart. It feels good.” 

Larkin capped Saturday's rally at Prudential Center against the Devils when he got the puck from Mantha during a two-on-one and scored into a wide-open New Jersey net in overtime. The victory put the Wings at 9-9-2 after starting 1-7-2.

“I think everyone was counting us out,” Larkin said. “And here we are the last 10 games, we’ve shown not only the league and our fans, but we’ve shown ourselves we can play with every team on a nightly basis. We’re having fun and we’re rolling and we need to keep this going.” 

Let’s take a look at what has gone right these past 10 games.

Resiliency and confidence 

Saturday’s victory marked the fourth time in the last six games the Wings have overcome a two-goal deficit and won. 

“Resiliency is huge,” said Luke Glendening, who scored his third goal of the season to cut New Jersey's lead to 2-1 late in the second period. “Last year we were up in games in the third and we ended up losing them.”

Fighting back from two-goal deficits is not a strategy for long-term success, but it has instilled in the team a sense of resiliency and confidence. Two of the Wings' last eight victories came with a short bench — Darren Helm was lost Saturday to an upper-body injury in the first period, and last month at Columbus, Thomas Vanek left in the the first period with a lower-body injury.

“I just think there is a belief we can stay with it,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Obviously you have to score so the Glennie goal is a big goal. Now it’s a one-shot game. We stayed with it. Our group is believing in themselves and they’re having fun doing it.”

More:Why Detroit Red Wings' Michael Rasmussen has shot to 'be real good'

Rookie Michael Rasmussen has scored three net-front goals the last three games, part of an overall improved net-front commitment from the Wings. He has six points the past 10 games, as does Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou. That’s a good sign for the rebuild that core parts are playing with so much confidence.

“Confidence is the biggest factor in success in the NHL today because of how close every team is and how close each player is,” Blashill said. “I can’t say that enough times. I don’t know if it’s understood totally from the outside. It is the biggest factor. So as you win, you gain confidence and you certainly gain some swagger.”

Larkin leads

Larkin has two game-winning goals among 12 points in the past 10 games. He has won in overtime and in a shootout and overall has shown how much he wants to lead the Wings towards success. 

“There’s no question that Dylan wants the big moment,” Blashill said. “Sometimes he wants it too much and he tries too hard and makes mistakes out of trying too hard, but there is zero doubt that he wants the moment. When you get an ‘A’ on your chest it gives you a little more latitude to speak and those types of things, and I think he’s done a good job of it, but he’s a natural-born leader.”

More:Why Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin is such a 'special player'

Larkin, 22, has a consistency that is rare for young players. He has produced in all but six games and never gone more than two games without a point. He plays an average of 21 minutes, 28 seconds per game, third highest on the team. He plays power play and penalty kill and is on the ice to protect leads or help create them late in games. 

“He’s playing on the right side of the puck and he’s producing at an elite level,” Glendening said. “He’s a great player, a great leader.”

More:Red Wings inconvenienced by weather: 'Nobody wanted to sleep with me'

Terrific tandem 

Credit goalies Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier for putting the Wings in position to win on a regular basis. Bernier made 14 saves in the first and third periods Saturday, and finished with 38 overall. The previous game, at Ottawa, Howard had 34 saves. Over the past 10 games, Howard has gone 5-1 and posted a .934 save percentage and 2.12 goals-against average. Bernier has gone 3-1 and posted a .933 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against average. 

“Our goaltending has been real good here during the stretch,” Blashill said. “In the last 10 games, we’ve gotten real good goaltending every night.” 

More:Oops! Officials penalize Gordie Howe during Red Wings-Senators game

Perspective

The Wings have beaten New Jersey twice, have beaten Vancouver, the New York Rangers, and Arizona. That’s after spending October playing one elite opponent after another as they took on Toronto, Boston, Tampa Bay and Montreal, among others. They still have to prove they can beat those top-tier teams, and that opportunity will come with a schedule that next features Boston and Washington, and a December slate that includes games at Toronto, Washington and Pittsburgh. But they go into those games with a swagger after finding ways to win over the past three weeks.

“When things are going well, it just seems like it’s going to be a big save or it’s going to be a big goal or a big block,” Bernier said. “I just think we play our system, too, a little bit better. Our compete level is higher. The start we had, it was tough. Guys didn’t have much fun. I’m happy we’re finding ways to win.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.