Alex DeBrincat extended his hitting streak to five games with two goals and an assist. Detroit Red Wings restrained Calgary Flames for a 4-3 win on Wednesday.
Axel Sandin-Pelikka and Dylan Larkin also scored for Detroit (17-11-3), which won its fourth straight game and moved past Boston and Tampa Bay into first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Red Wings are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Joel Farabee, Matt Coronato and Mackenzie Weegar scored for Calgary (12-16-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Nazem Kadri had a pair of assists.
Making his third straight start, John Gibson made 34 saves for the Red Wings. He improved to 8-7-1.
Devin Cooley stopped 23 shots in the loss, falling to 3-4-2.
Detroit started quickly with goals from DeBrincat and Sandin-Pelikka in the first five minutes.
The Red Wings took a 4-0 lead into the game's final 12 minutes as Calgary fired up the home team with three goals in less than seven minutes, overcame one and staged a furious finish.
Red Wings: DeBrincat's 16 goals and 34 points in 31 games put him on pace for a career-best 42 goals and 90 points. He was not one of the 44 players invited to the U.S. Olympic camp in August, but is tied for second among U.S. players in goals behind Jason Robertson (19). He is also tied for fourth in points behind Robertson (39), Jack Eichel (38) and Kyle Connor (37).
Flames: The momentum from Calgary's season-high seven goals against Buffalo on Monday didn't carry over as the home team trailed 2-0 and trailed 7-0 before getting its first shot on goal. The Flames played better after that, but only broke up Gibson on his 26th shot. The first goal came off Farabee's stick on a penalty kick.
After Calgary failed to convert on a pair of power plays early in the second period, Detroit soon responded with goals 1:28 behind from DeBrincat and Larkin to open up a 4–0 lead.
The Red Wings have won seven straight games against the Flames since February 9, 2023. This is their longest active winning streak against a team.
Red Wings: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Flames: Visit the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
