Of course, you realize the "inferior" players were Provorov and Sanheim, who were dreadful.
MacDonald had a great game, even though he kept blowing scoring chances with bad passes.
SCF/SCA, HDCF/HDCA
Provorov 3/16 3/3
Sanheim 3/13 2/3
Ghost 13/3 3/1
MacDonald 16/2 5/1
Gudas 9/7 3/3
Hagg 10/9 4/3
Some of this reflects matching Provorov/Sanheim against the Larkin line as much as possible.
Some of this was just bad play, and in the long-run, I don't think Provorov-Sanheim is a good pairing.
MacDonald simply isn't the bad defensemen so many try to make him out to be, an experienced veteran who suppresses scoring (over a long period, so it's not a fluke). Not a top 4 on a good team, but not the liability he's advertised to be now that he's 100%.
Might be the first decent game for Hagg/Gudas, but that also reflects how shallow the Red Wings are these days.