The addition of Mason Appleton in free agency was met with little fanfare. During the first week of the NHL season, Appleton has been instrumental in getting Detroit off to a 3-1 start.
The Red Wings will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Appleton scored the game-winning goal with 45 seconds left at Toronto on Monday. He followed that up with a two-goal game against the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
Appleton, who signed a two-year contract, isn’t known for his offense. The eighth-year forward never scored more than 14 goals in a season.
“It’s just getting pucks to the net and finding spots and places to get myself into scoring chances,” Appleton said.
He temporarily was promoted to the first line against the Panthers as Lucas Raymond, last season’s top Detroit scorer, was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Raymond participated in the morning skate Thursday and could return on Friday.
“We felt comfortable playing him up there,” coach Todd McLellan said of Appleton. “We heard he could pinch hit and do a good job there and guys are happy for him. He’s fit into our group real well.”
Detroit opened the season with an ugly loss to Montreal but has since recorded three quality wins — two over the Maple Leafs prior to the 4-1 triumph over Florida. Cam Talbot has been the winning goaltender in each of those contests.
“It was a head-scratcher,” captain Dylan Larkin said of the loss to the Canadiens. “I don’t want to dwell on the past, but the response we’ve had says a lot. We got challenged right away from Day 1 about being resilient and mentally tough. I think we’ve all shown that we’re capable of it. We’ve shown we can play with a lead. We’ve shown that when we’re not playing well, we can get some saves from our goaltending and steal games that way.”
The Lightning’s four games this season have all been decided by one goal. They’ll be playing the third of four straight road games on Friday. Tampa Bay began the trip with a win at Boston, then lost in overtime to Washington, 3-2, on Tuesday.
“We got better as a team this entire trip,” coach John Cooper said. “Ultimately, we played a back-to-back and got three out of four points. If we did that all year, I’d be loving it.”
Defenseman J.J. Moser also saw a lot of good things during the loss to Capitals.
“I’d say there’s quite a few positive (takeaways),” Moser said. “I think our performance over the whole 60 minutes was pretty decent. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get that second point, but that’s how it happens sometimes.”
Brayden Point scored a goal and now is tied for the team lead with five points. In 38 career games against the Red Wings, Point has 20 goals and 15 assists.
The Lightning will complete their road trip on Saturday when they visit Columbus, Ohio to face the Blue Jackets.
