The Detroit Red Wings needed a kick in the pants and Todd McLellan administered it Thursday after a lackluster first period in Edmonton. The Red Wings were a much different team the rest of the way, erasing an early two-goal deficit and beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout.

The first thing Todd McLellan felt needed changing when he took over the Wings was the mood. Thanks to an 11-4-1 record since arriving, it has.

Before he stepped behind the bench of a young and hungry Detroit Red Wings team, Todd McLellan was the coach who helped usher Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl into the NHL. He spoke to Mark Spector about lessons learned from that experience.

Dylan Larkin, who was dominant all over the ice, clinched the shootout win in the Red Wings' 3-2 victory over the Oilers on Thursday.

The Red Wings begin a four game Western road trip in Edmonton, looking to improve on their last trip away from Little Caesars Arena

The Red Wings (24-21-5, 53 points) would tie Tampa Bay and Columbus for the final wild card spot with a win over the Oilers and a regulation loss by the Blue Jackets at Vegas, though technically Detroit would still trail based on points percentage and tiebreakers.

Goalie Alex Lyon stopped a season-high 45 shots in the Wings' 3-2 (SO) win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

Nobody can say the Edmonton Oilers aren’t making things entertaining. They gave up 19 third-period shots but hung on to beat Buffalo 3-2 on Saturday. They needed an empty-netter before they could exhale against Seattle on Monday.

Once a coach, always a coach. So when Steve Yzerman called former Detroit assistant coach Todd McLellan a month ago, looking to make a head coaching change behind the Wings bench, replacing Derek Lalonde,

Mattias Janmark scored a goal… On a goalie.  A tying goal in the first period by Janmark was his first goal with a goalie in the net since June 24th of last year.

In 16 games since McLellan took over, the Red Wings are 11-4-1, riding a three-game win streak as they prepare to head to western Canada on Wednesday. It’s not unusual to see a midseason coaching change bring better results in the NHL, but now more than 30 days in, the Red Wings’ surge has lasted longer than a simple adrenaline rush.

The Detroit Red Wings take on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the opening matchup of their four-game road trip.