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.

McLellan and his right-hand man, former Kings and Ducks assistant Trent Yawney, have put their imprint on the winged wheel in short order. “Our structure in all three zones (has improved), I feel like we’re just supporting the puck better,” Talbot told The Detroit News.

The Kings take a two-goal lead in the first period before losing, 5-2, against their former head coach and dropping to 2-5-1 over their last eight games.

Detroit — Sunday marked the one-month anniversary of Todd McLellan taking over as head coach of the Red Wings. McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26, with the Wings in seventh place in the Atlantic Division and eight points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

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,

The Red Wings won their second consecutive game on this three-game homestand Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Tampa.

The Red Wings (23-21-5, 51 points) have won back-to-back games, both with Talbot in net. Talbot is 7-1-0 in his past eight starts. The one loss was a 5-1 setback at Tampa Bay Jan. 18 when he was pulled after two periods.

Thirty days into Todd McLellan’s tenure as the Detroit Red Wings head coach, the biggest change in the team can’t be measured by statistics. You can see it.

The Detroit Red Wings believe in themselves again, says new head coach Todd McLellan. That has made all the difference in the world.

The Red Wings showed they're learning how to win after falling behind against a great defensive team like the Kings and scoring five straight goals.

Cam Talbot stopped 28 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0.

A huge key was the Wings' power play, which had so lethal in recent games (power play goals in 10 of their last 11 games). The Wings did score once, with Lucas Raymond scoring his 19th goal, but the Wings couldn't match the two or three power-play goals they had scored six of the last 11 games.