Detroit — Something finally went right for the Red Wings.
Mired in a six-game winless streak, the Wings rallied in the third period for a 4-3 victory over the struggling Chicago Blackhawks.
Lucas Raymond and Dominik Kubalik scored three minutes, eighteen seconds apart late in the third period, rallying the Wings and ending their lengthy losing streak.
“Every game you are trying to win and do your best, but sometimes it’s not going the right way,” said Kubalik, who scored the game-winner against his former Chicago teammates. “It felt like the last couple of games the games were there but we just didn’t take them. Today we really pushed ourselves to do everything to make it happen and I’m happy we did.”
Kubalik got his 18th goal after Andrew Copp won a faceoff and got the puck to Gustav Lindstrom, who found Kubalik alone near the hashmarks at 15:53.
And, yes, it was sweet coming against the Blackhawks.
“The team is different obviously, a lot of trades and there’s not too many guys left that I know,” Kubalik said. “But you still want to play good against them and show that you can score. I’m really happy that I could help.”
More:BOX SCORE: Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 3
Raymond deflected a point shot by Robert Hagg past Chicago goalie Alex Stalock at 12:35, Raymond’s 16th goal, igniting the comeback.
Raymond’s goal (his first since Jan. 21) came just after a good Wings penalty kill that gave the Wings much needed momentum after Chicago’s Joey Anderson broke a 2-2 tie with Anderson’s third goal.
Considering how the last six games had gone, and the fact the Wings had to rally twice Wednesday, it was a satisfying Wings victory.
“It was,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Just a night where it was not going our way and you put that on top of everything that has gone on in the past week, I give our guys plenty of credit for hanging in there and finding a way to win.”
The Wings outshot Chicago 41-20.
Jake Walman and Dylan Larkin (power play) scored second-period goals, tying the score 2-2.
Taylor Raddysh had both Chicago goals in the first period, one on the power play.
“It felt like we had a good start,” said Alex Chiasson, who continued his nice start for the Wings with two assists. “It’s a good sign for this team, down 2-0 it could have gone the other way. We stuck with it and found the next one and build from it and that’s why you play the game for 60 minutes. Just keep competing and stuck to our system and good things happened.”
Chiasson was excited about his first home game at Little Caesars Arena.
“It was a special night,” Chiasson said. “Just playing in this building, with this jersey, first home game, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for the past couple of days. There’s nothing like the NHL, the atmosphere and compete level and winning tonight, it’s kind of the cherry on top.
“It makes it that much better.”
Raddysh opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 15:51 of the first period. Lukas Reichel found Raddysh skating down the wing untouched and fed a pass that Raddysh deposited easily past Husso.
Raddysh scored his 16th at 17:58, making it 2-0 Chicago. Cole Guttman saw Raddysh open near the dot, and Raddysh snapped a shot through Husso.
Walman cut the deficit to 2-1 with his seventh goal to begin the second period. Walman faked a defender to the ice, took a few strides, and snapped a shot past Stalock at 2:53.
The Wings tied the score on their second power-play attempt of the period.
Chiasson, at the side of the net, fed Larkin with a between-the-legs pass that Larkin slammed into the net for his 24th goal at 18:34.
“Down 2-0 it was kind of tough to swallow,” Lalonde said. “We have an unbelievable second (period), then we find ourselves down in the third, and killing a penalty late in the game. Those are tough situations and we go through it and our guys kept pushing and found a way.
“It’s nice winning after the stretch we’ve been through.”
The Wings (29-26-9) moved to within six points of idle Pittsburgh in the chase for the second and last Eastern Conference wild-card spot. But there are also four teams between the Wings and Pittsburgh, making matters that much more difficult, with the Wings only having 18 games left.
The Wings played without Robby Fabbri after the first period. Fabbri, who has had three ACL surgeries in his career, appeared to twist his knee awkwardly on a battle along the boards and skated off the ice and straight down the tunnel to the locker room.
Lalonde said the team will know more Thursday, but added Fabbri did try to skate after the first period on the practice sheet of ice but was not available to return.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan