'Believability' is Detroit Red Wings' word of the second half. Here's why

David Perron broke into a smile as he intercepted a question directed at Detroit Red Wings teammate Jake Walman.

"He was thinking about his celebration," Perron said.

Walman had just scored to complete a 4-3 comeback victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the Wings' first outing since their extended All-Star break. Coach Derek Lalonde had urged the Wings to remember how hard they played during the 9-2-2 run in January, and that ultimately is what they did to bank two points against a team that has won its way to the top of the NHL standings. The Wings (27-18-6), meanwhile have won their way into the picture for the Eastern Conference wild-card spots and even a shot at third place in the Atlantic Division.

"This is going to be a battle for us," Lalonde said Saturday. "If we are going to be fortunate enough to get over the line, it’s probably going to be Game 82. We’ll be fighting for every point. To get there you have to have some believability, and wins like this certainly helps."

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Walman celebrated his goal, coming on a penalty shot 23 seconds into overtime, by bringing back the dance that got him a bobblehead earlier this season, the "Griddy," in which he swings his arms back and forth and points at fans while tapping his skates.

"I haven’t done it at home," Walman said. "Any time I can kind of show the fans what they want, I am going to do that. It was fun. It was a really good to testament to the team that we were able to come back and close it out."

It looked dicey when the Wings emerged with no goals from seven straight minutes (minus nine seconds of five-on-three time) with a man advantage in the second period, and then gave up one to the player (Filip Hronek) coming out of the penalty box to fall behind, 2-1. It was 3-1 when the second period ended.

But third-period goals from Daniel Sprong and Michael Rasmussen helped the Wings improve to 7-13-2 when trailing after two periods.

"It shows you have to stick with it, and that’s what I mean by structure, by playing the right way, all that stuff," Perron said. "We have firepower, we can come back and play different ways, but most of our wins need to come from the identity we showed all of January. We have to get back at it.

"These games are going to get harder and harder. You have teams that are falling off but sometimes they’re the tough teams to play against — they play loose. Other teams are trying to push us down, so every single night is going to be a different challenge."

Perron had a laugh about himself, too, when asked if he had a point total in mind for February. Before the Wings' trip at the start of January, he proclaimed they would get 18 points in the month — they got 20.

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Asked if he's the superstitious type, Perron smiled.

"I can’t share if I’m superstitious or not," Perron said. "I think it’s just my craziness. I know we’re sitting in San Jose the day before, we’re watching Michigan, and we’re kind of slipping away from the playoff picture. I just counted in my head how many points I thought we would need to get comfortable and get back in the picture. I’m not fully sure I’m comfortable that he shared that story, but obviously it looked good now that we did it.

"Sometimes you just have to manifest a little bit of your energy and after that game, once we won, I (was like) we have to get 18-20 points this month, and I think we got 20. So, that was pretty special.  I think we’ve got 12 games till the deadline, so I have a similar number in my head. I won’t share it this time; I’ll see what happens."

The Wings have another extended trip out west coming next week, when they visit the Edmonton Oilers (on Tuyesday), the Canucks again (on Thursday), the Calgary Flames (on Saturday) and then wrap up the trip in Seattle against the Kraken on Feb. 19. There are 31 games left — 12 before the March 8 trade deadline — and starting the post-break run on such a confidence-inducing note was just what the Wings needed.

"We win in different ways, that’s what is so special for us," Perron said. "As our details keep getting better and better, as we understand how important every puck is in the D-zone, all that stuff, playing the right way, I think we’re going to get better and better, and that is what is really exciting about our team."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings show 'believability' as playoff race tightens