Vancouver, British Columbia — First there was the picture of Dominik Shine between Christian Fischer and Dylan Larkin in the Red Wings’ locker room Saturday after defeating Calgary, 3-1.
Shine earned his first NHL point on Larkin’s goal in the first period, with Fischer getting the primary assist.
They were beaming. Cam Talbot was razzing them all from a side locker. After the picture was done, more laughs and getting on Shine for not smiling enough.
A five-game winning streak, plus the continued good vibes of Shine’s story is making the Wings’ locker room a fun room.
“Guys are rooting for each other,” Shine said of what he’s noticed about the Wings in his week in the NHL. “It’s a positive bench. We’re playing good hockey, and that’s a big factor.”
Shine played almost 10 minutes, had the assist, and was credited with a hit and blocked shot.
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Another productive game, the third in the NHL for Shine, 31, from Pinckney, a career minor leaguer who is finally realizing his dream.
“Just taking it day by day and work my hardest,” said Shine, adding he is getting more comfortable “a bit.”
Remember, at this point, this is all icing on the cake for Shine. He didn’t expect to be in the NHL. He didn’t really expect to still be playing after considering retirement last season.
“I was done playing (mentally), and to be here is amazing,” Shine said. “There was the doubt of what am I doing? Am I going to keep playing in the minors and do this forever? So just to get to be playing here, it means the world to me.”
Shine is even getting a smile out of watching players such as Simon Edvinsson, Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Soderblom, youngsters who were thriving in Grand Rapids where Shine was the savvy veteran.
“I’ve seen all of them grow into the players they are,” Shine said. “They all work hard, and they’re all great kids. I love them. I’m so happy for them.”
As are Shine’s current teammates on the Wings.
Players know his story, understand the long struggle he’s been through, and love the touch of success he’s having.
“It’s such a feel-good story,” Talbot said. “He just never wanted to be anywhere else but Grand Rapids, and to get an opportunity to come up here and don the Winged Wheel, it meant a lot to him. And for us to, seeing how excited he is and how much he’s put in to thi spoint.
“You can see how much it means to him, and we’re trying to feed off that energy because it’s fun to watch.”
The NHL regular season is long and can be draining. In these dog days of the season, a story like Shine’s can invigorate a team and give it some energy.
“Certainly can,” coach Todd McLellan said. “And it has. You get to this point, in January and February, and now teams are giong to wonder what is going to happen. Teams, not just the Wings, are going to start to look ahead and thinking we’re close to some rest (4 Nations Tournament, two-week break). Some healing time.
“But maybe Dominik can drag us into the games.”
Shine was “pumped” about contributing to Larkin’s goal and getting a point in another Wings victory.
“It means the world,” Shine said. “We wanted to get a good start, so I was pumped to be on the ice for the first one (goal), and to get a point is awesome.”
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Power forwards
The Wings might have something going with the line of Michael Rasmussen between Soderblom and Berggren.
Rasmussen and Soderblom, both in the 6-foot-6 range, have been difficult to handle in the first two games of the western Canada trip. Calgary couldn’t match up at all.
“They were probably our best line,” McLellan said. “They got one of the better matches, which was a good thing for them. But their length, just when you think they are almost done forechecking, their length allows them to keep some things alive. It got us going on the board early and I trusted them the whole night.”
Rasmussen won 10-of-13 faceoffs and had a blocked shot, while Soderblom had two hits, a takeaway and two blocked shots, along with Soderblom and Berggren assisting on Edvinsson’s late first-period goal that gave the Wings a 2-0 lead.
Ice chips
The Wings activated forward Patrick Kane (upper-body) before Sunday’s game in Vancouver, while putting J.T. Compher on the injured list retroactively. Who was to come out of the Wings’ lineup Sunday was unclear. Kane missed five games after colliding with a Dallas player Jan. 19.
… Talbot credited Larkin with a big reason for the Wings’ turnaround.
“It starts with the coaching change, but the leadership of Larks, he just pulls everyone along with him,” Talbot said. “You’ve seen Ray (Lucas Raymond) elevate his game and (Marco) Kasper has been hot since being put on that line, but Larks has been dragging everyone into the fight.
“And everyone has been following him.”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
