DETROIT — The Red Wings desperately needed a victory Wednesday to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race and had an ideal matchup — at home against the Blackhawks — to get one.
Trailing by two goals at the first intermission, they raced out of the locker room mere seconds before the second-period puck drop and took over from that point on, rallying to beat the Hawks 4-3.
‘‘We just weren’t sharp right from the start,’’ Hawks coach Luke Richardson said. [It was] a really sloppy game by us.
‘‘In the second period, it just seemed to get worse. It looked like we couldn’t catch a pass or make the right read or play. As well as everybody played last game [in a 5-0 victory Monday against the Senators], everybody was off, other than our goaltender.’’
Alex Stalock was, as Richardson mentioned, a bright spot.
His season has been a roller coaster because of concussion and eyesight concerns, but he has looked like the Hawks’ most valuable player every time he has been healthy. He made 37 saves to keep the Hawks afloat for a while and now has a .920 save percentage this season.
But Stalock’s efforts weren’t enough. The Wings tied the score at 3-3 on a goal by Lucas Raymond with 7:24 left, and former Hawks forward Dominik Kubalik scored the tiebreaker with 4:07 to play. It was the Hawks’ fifth loss in their last six games.
At five-on-five, the Hawks generated two high-danger scoring chances and conceded 14 — their worst showing of the season in that regard.
‘‘They probably looked at each other in the eyes after the first and wanted to have a better second,’’ Stalock said. ‘‘It’s one of those periods where it snowballs. They stayed fresh, and we iced the puck and stayed out there. And you get tired.’’
This and that
The Hawks put minor-league forward Pavel Gogolev, whom they acquired in the trade for defenseman Jake McCabe, on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Gogolev had played two games for Rockford.
It appears he plans to return to the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, where he racked up 48 points in 33 games this season before the trade.
• Richardson estimated defenseman Andreas Englund, another recently acquired player, will miss one to two weeks with a hamstring injury suffered Monday.
• The Hawks acquired forward Austin Wagner from the Kings last week knowing he had an injury that had become infected, Richardson said. The timeline for his Hawks debut is unclear.
