Red Wings beat Sharks 2-1 in shootout

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- Petr Mrazek capped an impressive January with another sharp performance.

Mrazek made 30 saves, and then stopped Tomas Hertl in the seventh round of a shootout to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. Mrazek went 3-1-1 in January with two shutouts and a .940 save percentage, easily his best month of the season.

"When you get to play, when you play lots of minutes, you get the confidence, the swagger back, and try to build from that," Mrazek said.

Justin Abdelkader scored in the final round of the tiebreaker, and Mrazek's save on Hertl ended the game. Trevor Daley scored for the Red Wings in the third period before Kevin Labanc responded for San Jose.

Gustav Nyquist, Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar and Abdelkader scored in the shootout for Detroit, while Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Chris Tierney scored for the Sharks.

The Red Wings had a season-high 44 shots, but San Jose salvaged a point thanks to goalie Martin Jones and Labanc's goal with 4:59 remaining in regulation. The Sharks spoiled Mrazek's bid for another shutout in January after an extended period in Detroit's zone. Luke Glendening of the Red Wings was caught without a stick, and Labanc's wrist shot through traffic beat Mrazek high to the glove side .

Jones played in a 5-2 loss at Pittsburgh the previous night, allowing one of the goals on a bad giveaway . He was much better against Detroit.

"He looked good and gave us a chance to win a game that we probably didn't deserve," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "The Red Wings looked fresher than we did and played a smart game. Jonesy gave us a chance, but I think getting one point is a fair result."

Detroit was playing its first game after the All-Star break. The Red Wings had their chances before Daley opened the scoring. Darren Helm was unable to convert a clean breakaway early in the second, and Martin Frk had an open net on a third-period rebound, but the puck went wide.

San Jose defenseman Justin Braun, who was without a stick at the time, stuck out a skate and appeared to get a piece of Frk's shot.

"I thought our energy was really good, I thought our compete was really good. I didn't think we were great in the first, I thought we got better as the game went along," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "Some of that is you're coming off break a little bit. But I thought we got better as the game went along and I thought by the end we did lots of good stuff so I thought we deserved the two points."

Daley put Detroit up 1-0 with 13:12 remaining in the third. Jones appeared to have stopped Daley's backhander from a tough angle, but the puck dropped over his left pad and ended up in the net for the defenseman's fourth goal of the season.

The goal came moments after Pavelski hit the post at the other end.

NOTES: San Jose's Brent Burns had six shots in the first period and nine for the game. ... Labanc played his 100th NHL game. The goal was his sixth of the season. ... The Sharks lost their third straight game without Joe Thornton, who is out with a right leg injury.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Red Wings: Visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. 

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DeBrincat's hat trick lifts Blackhawks over Detroit 5-1

By NOAH TRISTER
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) – Alex DeBrincat has been one of the few bright spots this season for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The 20-year-old rookie had his second hat trick, and the Blackhawks chased Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard in the first period on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Red Wings on Thursday night. DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills native, also had an assist in his return to the area where he was born.

"The puck was bouncing my way today," DeBrincat said. "It feels good to get that done in front of my family and friends."

DeBrincat, Anthony Duclair and Vinnie Hinostroza scored in the first 8:47 before Howard was pulled, and the Red Wings never got back in the game. DeBrincat added another goal in the second period and scored an empty-netter in the third, bringing his season total to 17.

Anton Forsberg came within 3:51 of his first career shutout before Anthony Mantha scored for Detroit.

DeBrincat opened the scoring after just 3:19 when he wheeled around and shot from near the top of the right circle. With Chicago's Jonathan Toews creating traffic in front, the puck went past Howard for a 1-0 lead.

Duclair made it 2-0 with a shot from the high slot. Then Hinostroza came in on a 2-on-1 and decided to shoot himself, beating Howard to give Chicago a three-goal advantage.

Howard headed to the bench after making only six saves, and Petr Mrazek replaced him.

"Really bad start from us," Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg said. "Too many guys who were not ready to go when the puck dropped. That's unacceptable. That's on me. I got to get the guys ready when the puck is dropped."

Detroit's Gustav Nyquist hit the post shortly after the Red Wings fell behind 3-0, but Detroit didn't create much sustained pressure, even though it was Chicago that had played the night before. The Blackhawks had lost four in a row and are in last place in the Central Division, but after going just 1-4-1 on a six-game homestand, Chicago heads into the All-Star break on a better note with the win at Detroit.

"Certainly it feels a lot different than the experience we've had over the last week," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we did a lot of good things in our two prior games without getting a `W' - so maybe there's a corner that's turned."

Forsberg was closing in on a shutout in his 27th career game, but Mantha redirected a pass from Zetterberg into the net. Zetterberg moved into a tie with Pavel Datsyuk for fifth place on Detroit's career assists list with No. 604.

The Red Wings pulled their goalie at the end, and that gave DeBrincat an opportunity to shoot into the open net in the final minute.

NOTES: DeBrincat also had a hat trick against Anaheim on Nov. 27. ... Forsberg made 23 saves, bouncing back after allowing five goals on 35 shots in his previous start against the Islanders. ... Quenneville said he's hoping G Corey Crawford (upper-body injury) will be back on the ice during the break, and then the team can decide whether he goes on a road trip next week. ... Chicago had a goal waved off in the second period. Duclair went down near the goal and actually ended up inside the net, behind Mrazek. A shot went past both of them and into the goal, but it was immediately disallowed.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Play at Nashville on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Host San Jose on Wednesday night.

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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister

Spezza scores 2 after scratch and Stars beat Red Wings 4-2

By LARRY LAGE
AP Hockey Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- Jason Spezza made the most of an opportunity to play a day after getting benched.

Spezza scored two tiebreaking goals on power plays to help the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old forward was a healthy scratch on Monday when Dallas won at Boston in overtime.

"I was unhappy about it," he acknowledged. "I didn't like the decision, but we have to get through that and just move forward."

Spezza bounced back by ending his 14-game goal drought, scoring twice in a game for the first time since March 12, 2016. Spezza had 33 goals just two years ago and has 323 career goals, but he scored just five times in 44 games before breaking through against the Red Wings.

"He played like he can and played like will," Dallas' Ken Hitchcock said after coaching in his 1,500th NHL game. "That's what we expect from him and we expect that every night. He's shown it at times, but not consistent. This is what he's capable of and what he can bring to the team and we need it."

Spezza scored on a lunging, one-timer below the left circle with 5:52 left in the second period. His first goal came on a redirected shot midway through the first.

"He made two great finishes on the power play," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's always dangerous when you give him those chances."

Dallas' Radek Faksa and Martin Hanzal also scored. Ben Bishop stopped 13 shots for the Stars, who have won six of eight.

"We won the game because of the second-wave players," Hitchcock said. "The things we've been harping on for months, we got in the last two games. Big plays by second-tier players, exactly what we need if we're going to win. If we expect to a playoff team, that's the next step. We're not going to rely on the same two or three guys every night."

Trevor Daley put Detroit ahead in the opening minute, but Faksa redirected a shot past Jimmy Howard at 2:48 of the first. Andreas Athanasiou pulled the Red Wings into a 2-all tie midway through the second period and Spezza's second goal 2:25 later put Dallas ahead 3-2.

Blashill and his players disputed a roughing call that went against Luke Witkowski when he was also penalized for fighting Stephen Johns, giving Dallas an extra skater as Spezza scored the game-winning goal.

"I said, `Hey, do you want to go?" Witkowski recalled asking Johns. "If he doesn't want to fight, he doesn't have to drop his gloves, so I didn't make him fight."

Howard had 22 saves for the Red Wings, who had won five of seven.

Detroit rookie Tyler Bertuzzi assisted on both goals, giving him seven assists and eight points in 11 NHL games this season.

"I'm just getting more used to it every game," he said. "Playing with Larks (Dylan Larkin) and AA (Athanasiou), it's pretty easy on me."

NOTES: Dallas scratched C Gemel Smith to make room for Spezza in the lineup. ... The Red Wings were without F Justin Abdelkader (lower body) and F Darren Helm (lower body) and both are expected to miss at least another game. ... Spezza had two power-play goals in a game for the first time since he played for Ottawa against Washington on March 30, 2010.

UP NEXT

Stars: Visit Columbus on Thursday for the third stop in a four-game trip.

Red Wings: Get a three-day break before hosting Carolina on Saturday.

Blackhawks host longtime rival Red Wings

STATS, LLC

CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks will face off against an old division rival when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday at the United Center.

The teams have met 733 times during the regular season and 81 times during the playoffs since their first game in 1926. But a divisional realignment before the 2013-14 season sent the Red Wings to the Eastern Conference while the Blackhawks remained in the Western Conference, which reduced the rivalry to a fraction of what it once represented.

Still, the stakes are high as Chicago (22-16-6) welcomes the Red Wings to its building for the only time this season. The Blackhawks are part of a crowded field of playoff contenders and hope to pick up two more points before the start of this week's five-day break between games.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville will turn to Jeff Glass, a 32-year-old rookie, to start in goal. Glass toiled for years in the minor leagues and Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, but he has made the most of an opportunity to replace injured goaltender Corey Crawford. In five starts, Glass is 3-1-1 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

"I'm just trying to prove myself every single day," Glass told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's really not about me anymore. It's about the team and getting the points. I really do mean that."

Detroit (17-18-7) is looking for a bounce-back performance after dropping its past two games. The Red Wings will play on short rest after losing 4-1 on the road to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill will have to adjust his line combinations because of lower-body injuries to Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader. Both players were hurt in Saturday's game and have been ruled out against the Blackhawks.

Goaltender Petr Mrazek could make the start for Detroit after Jimmy Howard opened the back-to-back set on Saturday. Mrazek has struggled (3-5-1, 3.78 GAA, .885 save percentage) in 12 appearances this season. He also has fared poorly during his career against the Blackhawks (0-2-1, 5.20 GAA, .864 save percentage).

Those statistics could prompt Detroit to start Howard for the second day in a row. Howard is 14-13-6 with a 2.68 GAA and .915 save percentage in 35 games this season. In 22 career appearances against Chicago, the Syracuse, N.Y., native is 7-8-5 with a 2.66 GAA and .908 save percentage.

The Blackhawks hope for a continued boost from Anthony Duclair, who notched an assist in his team debut on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. Duclair was acquired earlier this week from the Arizona Coyotes as part of a trade that sent Richard Panik to the desert.

Meanwhile, the short-handed Red Wings could lean more heavily on forwards such as Nyquist and Anthony Mantha. Both players are tied for the team lead with 14 goals apiece.

The Red Wings need to improve in the second half of the season to avoid missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The last time Detroit missed out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons was from 1978-79 to 1982-83.

"We are optimistic in here," Nyquist told the Detroit Free Press. "We all think we are a better team (at) this point than we were last year although the lineup looks very similar. We've made strides as a team."

Malkin powers Penguins past Red Wings 4-1

By DAN SCIFO
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins returned from their bye week and picked up right where they left off.

Malkin had two goals and two assists, and the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Saturday for their third consecutive victory.

"It's always fun when you win and have more confidence," Malkin said. "Your game is better, the mood is better, and now we're feeling so much better."

Phil Kessel added a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which had dropped its last three games against Detroit. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and rookie Tristan Jarry stopped 29 shots in his third straight start while Matt Murray is home in Canada tending to a family matter.

The Penguins have won four of five after dropping seven of their previous 10. Their three-game win streak is their longest since they won four in a row from late November into December.

"I think we've felt good about our last couple games going into the break," Crosby said. "I don't think we rest on that. I think we try to continue to get better."

Justin Abdelkader scored for the Red Wings, who lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. Jimmy Howard made 32 saves after missing one game with a lower-body injury.

Detroit went 1 for 7 on the power play. Pittsburgh was 2 for 5.

"If you look at it, their best players were better than our best players," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "I think if you go down to it, they score. They took care of business on the power play and we didn't."

Malkin opened the scoring 3:01 into the first game for each team since their five-day break. Carl Hagelin, from behind the net, fed the puck in the slot to Malkin, who beat Howard to the glove side.

The teams traded power-play goals later in the period.

Abdelkader tied it with a shot between Jarry's pads and Kessel gave Pittsburgh the lead when he one-touched a Crosby pass behind Howard from in close. The Penguins, the No. 1 unit in the league, have 12 power-play goals in their last 10 games.

Detroit had just one power-play goal in its previous seven games entering Saturday's contest.

Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead just 2:08 into the second when he beat Howard to the blocker side off a Kessel feed. Malkin has scored in three straight games. He has 14 points in his last eight games and 12 goals in his last 19 contests.

"As an elite player, (Malkin) is a guy, when he starts to feel it, and he scores a goal, all of the sudden his mindset and confidence level gets higher and the puck tends to follow him," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

Crosby's third-period power-play goal off a pass from Kessel gave Pittsburgh a three-goal lead. Kessel has eight points in his last five games, while Crosby has 10 in his last five.

"I think it's nice to get rewarded, feel good about our game and know what it looks like to have that consistency," Crosby said. "We can build on that. We have to continue with the same effort and on top of that, continue to get better."

NOTES: Pittsburgh recalled G Casey DeSmith from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League to serve as Jarry's backup. ... Pittsburgh previously went 17 straight games without allowing a power-play goal. ... Red Wings D Trevor Daley played his first game in Pittsburgh since signing with Detroit as a free agent in July. Daley recorded 11 points in 36 playoff games, helping Pittsburgh win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. ... The Penguins scratched D Ian Cole, while F David Booth and D Xavier Ouellet sat for the Red Wings.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Visit Chicago on Sunday.

Penguins: host the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Lightning beat Red Wings 5-2, ending streaks for both teams

By LARRY LAGE
AP Hockey Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- Dan Girardi stood to block a blast, turned his head to the left and was hit above the shoulders by the puck.

He scored and assisted on a goal in the first period before leaving the game in the second period of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.

"That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But Dan can still take it in stride and have light-hearted comments about it."

Detroit's Martin Frk took a shot on a power play and his one-timer appeared to hit Girardi in the neck. The defenseman lay face down on the ice while a doctor evaluated him on the ice and was eventually able to sit up. Girardi later skated slowly off the ice with teammates at his side and walked toward the dressing room.

"Hopefully everything is going to be OK," Cooper said. "He's just got to get a few tests here."

The game was very physical before Girardi went down with two fights, open-ice hits, checks into the boards along with a lot of pushing and shoving. When Girardi got up, players from both teams tapped their sticks on the ice and against the boards and the game was suddenly played without much contact.

"You don't even think about what team a guy is on after something like that," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "Your entire focus is on how he's doing."

Girardi assisted on Tyler Johnson's goal that put Tampa Bay up 2-0. Yanni Gourde and Nikita Kucherov restored two-goal leads in the second and third periods. Gourde added a second goal of the night late in the game, putting the Lightning ahead 5-2.

Louis Domingue stopped 34 shots for the NHL-leading Lightning, who avoided losing three straight for the first time this season.

"We had to make a push because we weren't happy with the last couple games," Johnson said. "We wanted to get off to a good start."

Cooper was proud of his team's effort, ending a five-game road trip with back-to-back games.

"This was an easy one to mail in," he said.

Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader scored in the second and third period to pull the Red Wings within a goal, but they didn't come close to extending their season-high, four-game winning streak.

"We're optimistic in here," Nyquist insisted. "We talked about it here the last couple weeks. I think we all think that we're a better team at this point this year than we were last year."

Detroit's Petr Mrazek made 19 saves, filling in for Jimmy Howard, who was out with a lower-body injury.

NOTES: The crowd roared when Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, a former Red Wing star, was shown on the videoboards in the third period. ... The Red Wings were 0 for 4 on the power play, including a pair of brief two-man advantages. ... Gourde had a Gordie Howe hat trick with two goals, assist and the first fight of his NHL career in the same city where the late Hall of Famer played most of his career. "It's pretty funny," Gourde said. "I wasn't going into the game thinking I was going to get into a fight." ... The Lightning signed the 33-year-old Girardi on July 1 after the New York Rangers bought out the final three years his contract, clearing just under $2.9 million in salary-cap space this season and almost $1.9 million the two following years.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Host Carolina on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Begin a bye, resting until playing Saturday at Pittsburgh. "It is good to have a break because we can refresh our bodies and refresh our minds," Zetterberg said.

Athanasiou scores 6 seconds into OT, Detroit tops Ottawa 2-1

We knew @AndreasA86 was speedy... but the dude tied the fastest OT goal in NHL history. pic.twitter.com/2OjiEyuNmu

— NHL (@NHL) January 4, 2018

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer

DETROIT (AP) – With record speed, the Detroit Red Wings finally won in overtime.

Andreas Athanasiou scored 6 seconds into the extra period to give Detroit a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. The goal tied an NHL record for fastest overtime goal in the regular season. The Red Wings improved to 1-6 in games decided in overtime, although they have won three shootouts.

"I think we're just playing good hockey right now, trying to make the most of what I get," Athanasiou said. "Anytime I get a chance I'm trying to make something happen. Anytime I can help the team out it's definitely a good feeling."

Detroit has won three in a row for the first time this season.

Athanasiou scored twice and also had a penalty shot stopped in the third period. Dylan Larkin took the opening faceoff in overtime and, after the puck went forward a bit, both Athanasiou and Ottawa standout Erik Karlsson reached for it.

Athanasiou was able to control it and skated in behind Karlsson on a breakaway. He beat goalie Craig Anderson with a backhander high to the glove side.

"The puck was bouncing a little bit and I kind of saw Karlsson's stick on the left side of me, so I figured I'd go to the backhand again and try to get it up over his pad and fortunately it worked out," Athanasiou said.

The most recent player to score 6 seconds into overtime in the regular season was Washington's Alex Ovechkin on Dec. 15, 2006, at Atlanta.

Ryan Dzingel scored for the Senators, who lost for the 18th time in 22 games.

The Red Wings opened the scoring in the first period after a clever play by Anthony Mantha. The Detroit forward was in front of the net when he shot the puck backward through his legs, forcing Anderson to make a save. Athanasiou put away the rebound to make it 1-0.

Athanasiou and Martin Frk had good chances to double Detroit's advantage in the middle of the second period, but they couldn't convert, and the Senators tied it just 39 seconds into the third. Darren Helm mishandled the puck in front of his own net, and Dzingel pounced on it and beat goalie Jimmy Howard.

The play was reviewed for possible goaltender interference, but the goal stood.

Athanasiou drew a penalty shot with 9:19 remaining in regulation, but Anderson calmly made the save . Detroit had a chance to win it late in the third, but Anderson turned aside two shots by Helm, and Danny DeKeyser hit the pipe with about 20 seconds to play.

"That was two good old American goalies having a great game tonight," Anderson said. "It was fun to play in a game like that."

NOTES: The goalies had 33 saves each. ... Mantha returned after missing two games with a lower-body injury. ... Detroit went on the power play in the second period, but Mike Green of the Red Wings was called for holding almost immediately after it started. Rather than try to score during the delayed penalty, Ottawa tried to keep the puck and waste as much time as possible before Detroit could force a whistle. The delayed penalty wasn't called until there were 7 seconds left in Detroit's power play. "Great job by them," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "That was unreal. It's got to go down as one of the worst two minutes of power play in the history of mankind."

UP NEXT

Senators: Host the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

Red Wings: Host the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

Sean Couturier scores 16th goal, Flyers top Red Wings 4-3

By MIKE CRANSTON
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Sean Couturier set a career high for goals in a season, Robert Hagg scored the first goal of his career and Nolan Patrick showed spark.

Most importantly, the Philadelphia Flyers found a way to win when they didn't play their best.

Couturier scored off his own rebound to snap a tie early in the third period and the Flyers rallied from two one-goal deficits to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Wednesday night.

After a 10-game skid, the Flyers won for the seventh time in eight games and moved within two points of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"When we went through that streak we were finding ways to lose games," said Dale Weise, who along with Wayne Simmonds accounted for the rest of the Flyers' scoring. "Now we're sitting here 7-1 in our last eight and we're finding ways to win games when we don't play complete games. That's what I think good teams do."

Claude Giroux had three assists, Patrick had his first point in 10 games and Brian Elliott made 25 saves in his ninth straight start as the Flyers finished a five-game homestead 4-1.

"From top to bottom I think we did a good job of keeping everything internal." Elliott said of the club's 0-5-5 stretch. "We talked it out, we changed some things systematically and we had that belief throughout the whole organization that we can do it."

Martin Frk and Mike Green had power-play goals, Gustav Nyquist also scored and Jimmy Howard made 27 saves for the Red Wings. They were trying to win three straight for the first time this season.

"It was just a hard game," Frk said. "We knew they were good offensively and they cored a couple of nice goals."

Couturier, in his seventh season, set a career high for goals in a season with his team-best 16th when he beat Howard with a second-chance shot at 5:57.

"Coots is doing everything that's asked of him," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "He's thrived with responsibility."

The Red Wings were steamed at the end of the game as it appeared they were going a man-up when Jakub Voracek was called for elbowing with 2:06 left. But it was evened up when Andreas Athanasiou was given an embellishment penalty on the play.

"Either you make a call or you don't make a call at all," center Henrik Zetterberg said.

The Flyers tied it at 2 on the power play in a wild second period when Simmonds finished perfect tick-tack-toe passing from Voracek and Giroux at 10:48 for his 11th goal.

Nyquist's 10th goal 41 seconds later put Detroit ahead 3-2, but Hagg answered at 13:40 on a slap shot through traffic. Simmonds raced into the net to retrieve the puck for Hagg, who was playing in his 35th NHL game, and he was swarmed by his teammates.

"I kind of blacked out," a smiling Hagg said.

The Flyers struck first at 15:19 of the first period when Weise collected a rebound and scored on a wraparound after Patrick won a faceoff against Darren Helm.

Patrick, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, won nine of 12 face-offs.

"I thought that was one of his better games," said Weise, a linemate. "I think he's been coming on strong the past four or five games."

Frk's second goal in as many nights tied it with with 1.3 seconds left in the first as he took a feed from Dylan Larkin on the power play.

Detroit went ahead 2-1 5:50 into the second period on Green's point shot as Jordan Weal served a double-minor for high-sticking.

NOTES: Voracek earned his NHL-high 34th assist. ... Red Wings fourth-line C Luke Glendening (upper body) didn't play after the first period. ... Red Wings LW David Booth played and RW Luke Witkowski was scratched. ... Flyers F Jori Lehtera replaced Taylor Leier (upper body) on the fourth line.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: At Boston on Saturday.

Flyers: At Buffalo on Friday night.

Red Wings beat homeward-bound Isles

NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders are expected to achieve a goal decades in the making Wednesday afternoon, when a press conference will be held on Long Island announcing the Islanders' owners have won their bid to build a new arena on the Nassau/Queens border.

Now an even bigger challenge awaits for the Islanders: Fixing one of the leakiest goaltending units in the NHL.

The Detroit Red Wings scored the final four goals Tuesday night as they overcame a drastic disadvantage in shots to beat the Islanders 6-3 at Barclays Center.

The Red Wings were outshot 37-22 but were playing on a particularly titled ice in the first two periods, when they were outshot 32-10, including 23-4 in the second. But Detroit managed to enter the second intermission in a 3-3 tie thanks to Anthony Mantha's goal with 4:45 remaining.

"A bit lucky for us, we (hadn't) played that great," said Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg, who collected three assists to earn first star honors. "But we were in the game. Just wanted to go out and play a good 20 minutes and that's what we did and got two points."

Zetterberg assisted on Mantha's goal -- he missed a back-handed shot into a wide-open right corner of the net before Mantha put back the rebound -- as well as on Trevor Daley's game-winner with 9:57 remaining in the third.

The Red Wings added insurance goals when Mike Green scored with 5:48 left and Luke Glendening produced an empty-netter with 28.1 seconds remaining.

"There's no question about it, through the first two periods, really, I think we were fortunate to be in the game," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I will say this, though: I thought we came out in the third and played great. I thought we really played hard. I thought we played to win. I thought we made a lot of plays. I thought we skated and I thought we won lots of puck battles."

Martin Frk and Gustav Nyquist scored in the first period for the Red Wings (13-13-7), who have won two straight following a hard-luck 11-game skid in which they went 1-5-5. Goalie Petr Mrazek, making his first start since Dec. 2, recorded 34 saves.

"We've played lots of really good games this year where we haven't won," Blashill said. "And this wasn't our best game, but we found a way to win. We have to do that also."

The seventh loss in the last 10 games for the Islanders (18-13-3) dampened the good mood of an announced crowd of 10,511 that arrived at Barclays hours after Newsday reported the franchise's owners won a bid to build a new arena at Belmont Park. A press conference announcing the move back to Long Island is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Islanders played at Nassau Coliseum from the club's inception in 1972 until moving to Brooklyn in 2015. But fans have been displeased by the longer commute to Barclays Center as well as the arena's poor hockey sight lines.

"A good note in, I think, a frustrating time," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "I think it's great for the fans, it's great for the organization and everybody involved from the owners, they worked hard. Obviously I've heard what you heard and it feels like it's going to be good news."

The Islanders could certainly use some better news regarding their goaltenders. New York ranks second in the league in goals scored (121) and goals allowed (120).

Thomas Greiss, making his third straight start Tuesday, recorded 16 saves. Greiss and fellow co-starter Jaroslav Halak have combined for a save percentage of .871 in the last 10 games.

Weight, who has said the defensive struggles are a team-wide issue, continued to defend his goalies Tuesday night.

"Yes, I have confidence in my goalies, of course I do," said a curt Weight, who added he was "(ticked) off" about the Islanders' current predicament.

"They're going through a rough time now," Weight said. "It gets in your head and you feel like you cant give anything up."

Anders Lee, Ryan Pulock and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders. Bailey, who has scored a goal in three straight games (five total) and recorded a point in six consecutive contests (11 points), was named the third star of the week by the NHL on Monday.

NOTES: The Islanders scratched C Shane Prince (conditioning stint) as well as D Thomas Hickey and C Alan Quine. ... Islanders D Calvin de Haan (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve Monday with an injury sustained in Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Kings. Newsday reported de Haan could miss the rest of the regular season. Hickey, who missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury, was activated in a corresponding move. ... The Red Wings scratched LW David Booth and D Xavier Ouellet. ... Red Wings G Petr Mrazek played a full game for the first time since Nov. 9.

Islanders host rested Red Wings

Stats, LLC

NEW YORK -- Two teams hoping to parlay some schedule certainty into sustained winning streaks will meet Tuesday night when the New York Islanders host the Detroit Red Wings at Barclays Center.

Both squads enter Tuesday having enjoyed multiple days off since winning their most recent game. The Islanders overcame a two-goal first period deficit Saturday night to outlast the visiting Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in overtime. The Red Wings played their final home game before Christmas on Friday, when they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.

For the Islanders (18-12-3), the win snapped a two-game losing streak and provided an encouraging start to a five-game homestand that bookends the NHL's holiday break. New York, which has won just three of its last nine games (3-5-1), took its first lead against the Kings on Anders Lee's goal with 3:16 remaining in regulation and survived a goal by Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar with 13 seconds left in the third to earn the win on Jordan Eberle's tally 1:54 into overtime.

"This is a huge win for us," Islanders head coach Doug Weight said afterwards. "The fashion we were able to do it, a little emotion coming back from an early deficit. You can carry this. Momentum goes so far, but this is a good feeling and we've got three home games coming up before Christmas."

The Islanders, who host the Anaheim Ducks (Thursday) and Winnipeg Jets (Saturday) before returning from the Christmas break for a date with the Buffalo Sabres (Dec. 27), will enter Tuesday tied with the New York Rangers for the two Eastern Conference wild card spots.

"I know as of late, it hasn't been the greatest, but we have a bit of a homestand here and we've played really well at home," Eberle said. "So we need to gather as many points as we can and start rolling. We've got, I believe, three more games until Christmas and we need six points."

The victory Friday by the Red Wings (12-13-7) snapped a three-game losing streak (0-1-2) and was just their second in the last 10 games (2-4-4). Detroit needed the spark heading out on an east coast road trip in which it will visit the Philadelphia Flyers (Wednesday) and Boston Bruins (Saturday) before Christmas and the New Jersey Devils (Dec. 27) following the holiday.

"I do think, especially as you get close to the Christmas holiday, it can be a little bit of an advantage to get on the road and just have that bunker mentality and away from some of the commitments you have when you're at home," Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill told the team's website.

A point-filled road trip is a near-necessity for the Red Wings, who fell six points behind the third-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division with the Bruins' 7-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.

"It was a good win against Toronto and we want to continue the things we're doing well," Red Wings left winger Justin Abdelkader told the team's website. "We want to start to bank away some more points and get back up in the playoff race."

Bruins prevail in OT on Marchand's goal

DETROIT -- The Boston Bruins finally made the plays they knew they could make.

Brad Marchand's goal 35 seconds into overtime gave Boston a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

The Bruins trailed 2-1 with less than 90 seconds left.

"If you don't take care of pucks -- which we didn't do very well early on -- you're not going to get much," Marchand said. "They worked hard. They outbattled us early on. Luckily we were able to battle back."

Marchand was also a big part of the tying goal, which came with 1:26 left. He sent a pin-point, cross-ice pass to David Pastrnak, who one-timed the puck into the empty side of the Red Wings net and past Jimmy Howard to tie the game 2-2 with goalie Tuukka Rask pulled for the extra attacker. It was Pastrnak's team-leading 15th goal.

For the winner, Marchand scored on a backhander off a breakaway as he fought off the check of Red Wings defenseman Mike Green. It was Marchand's 12th goal.

Noel Acciari also scored for Boston, which won its third straight. Rask stopped 31 shots.

"In the end, we got it going eventually. There's a lot of pride in that room," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We knew we needed to be better. In fairness, Detroit hasn't won much lately, but their will to block shots and keep the puck out of their nets was tremendous. You've got to give them credit. "

Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit, which has lost 10 of its last 11 (1-5-5). Howard made 29 saves.

It was the third game in a row that the Red Wings have played well but only have a loss to show for it. On Monday, they led Florida 1-0 in the third period, only to lose 2-1 in overtime.

"Same thing we talked about last game," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "... When you haven't done it, you might lose it (confidence) a little bit but we have to find it."

The Red Wings are 0-6 in overtime.

"Obviously it's hard to win when you have a minute to go and they come back again. I thought we played good again. We did a lot of right stuff," Tatar said. "We came up short. It's always hard to talk about it but we just can't get frustrated. You have to stay positive and find the good things on video what we did today and try to be better tomorrow."

Larkin's short-handed goal with 8:26 left in the third period gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. He took a pass from Darren Helm in the neutral zone, raced down the ice and put a backhand shot past Rask after a move. It was Larkin's fifth goal of the season. It came with Green in the penalty box for holding Pastrnak.

"It would be huge if we score another goal, get that two-goal difference," Tatar said. "We have to talk about what we did wrong at the end and eliminate it and be better by the end."

Acciari scored 3:02 into the third period to tie the game 1-1.

He put one in from just under the right circle off a goal-mouth scramble. It was Acciari's second goal. He came back from an upper-body injury, which caused him to miss the Bruins previous game.

Tatar's power-play goal 9:15 into the second period gave Detroit a 1-0 lead. His wrist shot from the left circle beat Rask low on the far side with Justin Abdelkader providing a net-front presence. It was Tatar's ninth goal and came 13 seconds after Boston's Patrice Bergeron went off for tripping Andreas Athanasiou.

Howard stopped Pastrnak on a breakaway with 9:28 left in the middle period.

The first period was scoreless. Detroit outshot Boston 9-2, but most of the shots were from the outside.

NOTE: It was the first of back-to-back games for Boston. The Bruins host the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. ... Detroit sent F Tyler Bertuzzi to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller missed the game because of the birth of his child. ... Red Wings assistant coach Doug Houda was formerly a Bruins assistant coach. ... Boston RW David Pastrnak played his 200th career game.

Red Wings lose another one late

DETROIT -- Stick with the process.

That is the mantra that Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill continues to preach to his team. But with each mounting loss, it's possible that this blueprint is becoming a much harder sell.

As the season of giving fast approaches, the Wings could be wondering exactly when they will get their just rewards.

Monday, for the second straight game, the Wings played well. They created chances. They dominated play at times. And, for the second straight game, they lost.

Mike Matheson scored 2:02 into overtime as the Florida Panthers rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings.

Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Panthers, while Henrik Zetterberg had the Red Wings goal.

Afterward, Blashill again counseled his team that they are doing things the right way, and that eventually, it will pay dividends.

He knows that's easier said than done.

"Here's the biggest thing, and it's the hardest thing to do in life -- to trust in the process when you're not getting results," Blashill admitted. "For two games in a row, we've got tons of chances, we did tons of things good, and we didn't get results.

"So, the worst thing you can do is not trust in the process and change the way you're playing. If we continue to play that way, you're going to get results. You have to trust that it's going to happen over time."

The problem is that time may be running out on the Red Wings. They sit 14th overall in the NHL's Eastern Conference, four points behind the Boston Bruins for third place and the final Atlantic Division playoff spot. The Bruins, who hold three games in hand on the Red Wings, are in Detroit on Wednesday in what has to be viewed as a must-win game for the Wings.

Things got off to a promising start for the Wings on Monday. With 1:33 remaining in the first period, Detroit captain Zetterberg opened the scoring with his first goal since Oct. 18, ending a 22-game goalless skid. Zetterberg's original shot hit Matheson, but he gathered up his own rebound and whipped a shot that squeezed between the pads of Panthers goalie James Reimer (34 saves).

"It was nice to see the puck go in," Zetterberg said. "All we can do is keep creating chances and make sure we're a little more determined maybe when we get the chances."

After that, Reimer closed the door, making breakaway stops on Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar.

"Reimer was fantastic for us," Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck said. "He kept us in the game with all of those saves."

The Panthers tied it on the power play with 10:11 gone in the third period. Cross-checked to the ice by Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, as he was falling, Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau flipped a back pass across the crease to Trocheck, who drove a shot into the net off the glove of Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard (27 saves).

In the overtime period, after Howard sprawled to make a save on Nick Bjugstad, Matheson pounded a rebound into the net for his first goal of the season.

Beginning a five-game road trip, the Panthers (12-14-4) won in overtime for the first time this season (1-2), while the Wings (11-13-6) dropped to 0-5 in OT this season. The Wings are 1-6-3 in their last nine games.

"We kept our composure when we got down 1-0, and we kept winning battles," Florida coach Bob Boughner said.

NOTES: Panthers D Aaron Ekblad and Red Wings C Dylan Larkin are two of six players chosen in the 2014 draft who have reached the 100-point plateau in the league. ... Red Wings D/RW Luke Witkowski returned to action for the first since Nov. 9, when he received a 10-game NHL suspension for returning to the ice to rejoin a fight and fought twice with Panthers C Micheal Haley, the NHL leader with nine fighting majors. ... LW David Booth, D Xavier Ouellet and LW Tyler Bertuzzi were healthy scratches for the Wings. ... Detroit RW Anthony Mantha played his 100th NHL game. ... The next point collected by Wings D Mike Green will be his 450th in the NHL. ... Panthers C Aleksandr Barkov returned to action after missing Saturday's 7-3 loss to Colorado with an upper-body injury. ... Panthers scratches were D Ian McCoshen, LW Dryden Hunt and G Roberto Luongo (lower-body injury). ... Panthers coach Bob Boughner was selected 32nd overall by the Wings in the 1989 draft, ahead of future Hall of Famers Nicklas Lidstrom (53rd) and Sergei Fedorov (74th). Boughner played 630 NHL games, but none with Detroit.

Red Wings rout Jets to snap slide in style

DETROIT -- The Winnipeg Jets could smell what was coming their way, and they didn't particularly care for the odor.

"We knew this was going to be tough, because that's a good team that just took one of the worst losses in franchise history," Jets forward Adam Lowry said Tuesday after Winnipeg's 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Rebounding from a dismal 10-1 loss to the Canadiens on Saturday in Montreal, the Red Wings (11-12-5) turned in one of their best performances of the season and completely controlled the Jets, who entered play Monday tied for first overall in the NHL.

"We came out with a purpose tonight right from the drop of the puck," Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard said. "We played hard for a full 60 minutes.

"That is the type of game we need to play every single night, the way we supported each other around the ice, and the way we played as five-man units. When we play like that and we use our speed, we're a tough team to play against."

Gustav Nyquist recorded two goals and an assist, and Howard made 25 saves as the Red Wings ended a seven-game losing streak.

Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm and David Booth also scored for the Red Wings, who had gone 0-4-3 since a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 17.

"I think we just weren't really playing with a lot of passion the last couple games and we wanted to play with a little bit more intensity and show that we belong out there," Helm said.

Patrik Laine scored his 14th goal of the season for the Jets (17-7-4), who are 0-2-1 in their past three road games.

The Red Wings wasted little time in establishing dominance, outshooting the Jets 16-3 in the first period and grabbing a 2-0 advantage.

"That just kind of encourages guys knowing, 'Hey, that's a good team over there and we can outplay them,'" Booth said. "We're a good team, and I think we showed that tonight."

The Red Wings took the lead 10:42 into the first period. Nyquist's shot from the high slot bounced off a couple of legs and landed at the feet of Abdelkader on the edge of the Jets' goal crease, and Abdelkader slammed it home past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Seven seconds after failing to score during a two-man advantage of 1:55, the Red Wings went ahead 2-0. Hellebuyck (27 saves) got his right pad on a shot by Tomas Tatar, but Nyquist fired the rebound into the net at 14:43 of the opening period.

The Jets were offered their own five-on-three advantage for 1:33 in the second period and capitalized. Laine set up in the high slot to the left of the Detroit net and wired a one-timer low to the glove side past Howard at 6:25.

"I think that was the key to the game right there," Booth said. "They could have got another quick one, but keeping your composure, and Howie coming up with big saves or big blocks by our guys goes a long way."

Detroit increased its lead to 3-1 at 4:55 of the third period on a controversial goal. Nyquist and Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey crashed into Hellebuyck as Jonathan Ericsson's point shot reached the net, banking in off Nyquist as he and Morrissey toppled into Hellebuyck.

The Jets challenged the goal for goalie interference but lost the appeal.

"I didn't agree with (the call) then and I don't agree with it now," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.

Helm got behind the Jets' defense and snapped a wrist shot past Hellebuyck's glove side on the breakaway to make it 4-1 at 7:25.

Booth increased the margin to 5-1 at 10:40, converting Andreas Athanasiou's feed from the slot.

NOTES: The Jets had no players in their lineup Tuesday who had minus rating this season. The Red Wings suited up one player who was a plus player, D Jonathan Ericsson, now plus-4 after a plus-2 night. ... Detroit's last eight-game winless skid was an 0-7-1 slide from Jan. 12-30, 1991. ... Tuesday's game began a five-game homestand for the Red Wings, while the Jets launched a three-game road trip. ... The Red Wings scratched D Xavier Ouellet. ... Detroit D/RW Luke Witkowski served the ninth contest of his 10-game NHL suspension. ... The Jets' scratches were D Tucker Poolman, C Shawn Matthias and C Marko Dano.

Gallagher scores twice, Canadiens beat Red Wings 6-3

By NOAH TRISTER
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Now on their longest winning streak of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have recovered from their terrible start.

Brendan Gallagher scored twice, and his Montreal teammates added three goals in the second period on the way to a 6-3 victory over the struggling Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

The Canadiens have won four straight and are in the third place in the Atlantic Division — a quick turnaround for a team that started the season 1-6-1.

“We have been better for a while now, but now we are fighting harder and winning games,” said Alex Galchenyuk, who scored one of Montreal’s second-period goals. “That’s what we needed — to find ways to win.”

Charles Hudon and Andrew Shaw scored 43 seconds apart for the Canadiens in the second. Max Pacioretty also scored to help Claude Julien to his 100th win as Montreal’s coach.

Anthony Mantha, Tomas Tatar and Frans Nielsen scored for Detroit. The Red Wings have lost six straight, although three of those defeats came in overtime.

Detroit led 2-1 in the second when the puck came to Hudon after a scramble in front. He lifted it past goalie Jimmy Howard for the tying goal. Moments later, Shaw took a pass from Phillip Danault and beat Howard with a wrist shot.

“You can’t give away easy goals in this league and expect to win. We better figure it out,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The other thing I’d say is not enough guys with the real crazy commitment to winning.”

Galchenyuk made it 4-2 late in the second.

“Individually, everyone’s got to look at themselves in the mirror and be better, win more battles,” Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader said. “We had the lead going into the second period and self-destruct a bit, turn some pucks over. Against a team like Montreal, they live off turnovers, especially in the neutral zone. So you’ve got to take care of the puck.”

Gallagher has 12 goals this season. Both his goals Thursday came on deflections in front. The second made it 5-2 in the third, and Pacioretty added a power-play goal later in the period.

Nielsen’s goal came on the power play as well and made it 6-3.

Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first, but Mantha answered 64 seconds later with his 12th of the season. Tatar put Detroit up 2-1 with a power-play goal, beating Carey Price with a wrist shot from the left circle.

“Shaky start, when you look at — third game in four nights, and got in in the early morning,” said Julien, whose team won at home against Ottawa on Wednesday. “We had some heavy legs. I think that we had to kind of get going, and I thought from the second period on we were a much better team.”

Price won both games of the back-to-back set for Montreal, and he’s 4-0 since returning from a lower-body injury. His save percentage in that span is .962.

“I thought the confidence started coming around before Carey came back,” Julien said. “But when Carey comes in, that’s another added element. The confidence level certainly takes another jolt in the right direction.”

NOTES: Gallagher has 99 goals in his career. ... Detroit outshot the Canadiens 31-25. ... Montreal was without D Shea Weber (lower body) and forward Jonathan Drouin.

UP NEXT

The Canadiens and Red Wings play the back end of their home-and-home series in Montreal on Saturday night.

Gallagher scores twice, Canadiens beat Red Wings 6-3

By NOAH TRISTER
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Now on their longest winning streak of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have recovered from their terrible start.

Brendan Gallagher scored twice, and his Montreal teammates added three goals in the second period on the way to a 6-3 victory over the struggling Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

The Canadiens have won four straight and are in the third place in the Atlantic Division — a quick turnaround for a team that started the season 1-6-1.

“We have been better for a while now, but now we are fighting harder and winning games,” said Alex Galchenyuk, who scored one of Montreal’s second-period goals. “That’s what we needed — to find ways to win.”

Charles Hudon and Andrew Shaw scored 43 seconds apart for the Canadiens in the second. Max Pacioretty also scored to help Claude Julien to his 100th win as Montreal’s coach.

Anthony Mantha, Tomas Tatar and Frans Nielsen scored for Detroit. The Red Wings have lost six straight, although three of those defeats came in overtime.

Detroit led 2-1 in the second when the puck came to Hudon after a scramble in front. He lifted it past goalie Jimmy Howard for the tying goal. Moments later, Shaw took a pass from Phillip Danault and beat Howard with a wrist shot.

“You can’t give away easy goals in this league and expect to win. We better figure it out,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The other thing I’d say is not enough guys with the real crazy commitment to winning.”

Galchenyuk made it 4-2 late in the second.

“Individually, everyone’s got to look at themselves in the mirror and be better, win more battles,” Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader said. “We had the lead going into the second period and self-destruct a bit, turn some pucks over. Against a team like Montreal, they live off turnovers, especially in the neutral zone. So you’ve got to take care of the puck.”

Gallagher has 12 goals this season. Both his goals Thursday came on deflections in front. The second made it 5-2 in the third, and Pacioretty added a power-play goal later in the period.

Nielsen’s goal came on the power play as well and made it 6-3.

Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first, but Mantha answered 64 seconds later with his 12th of the season. Tatar put Detroit up 2-1 with a power-play goal, beating Carey Price with a wrist shot from the left circle.

“Shaky start, when you look at — third game in four nights, and got in in the early morning,” said Julien, whose team won at home against Ottawa on Wednesday. “We had some heavy legs. I think that we had to kind of get going, and I thought from the second period on we were a much better team.”

Price won both games of the back-to-back set for Montreal, and he’s 4-0 since returning from a lower-body injury. His save percentage in that span is .962.

“I thought the confidence started coming around before Carey came back,” Julien said. “But when Carey comes in, that’s another added element. The confidence level certainly takes another jolt in the right direction.”

NOTES: Gallagher has 99 goals in his career. ... Detroit outshot the Canadiens 31-25. ... Montreal was without D Shea Weber (lower body) and forward Jonathan Drouin.

UP NEXT

The Canadiens and Red Wings play the back end of their home-and-home series in Montreal on Saturday night.

Kopitar scores 2, Quick stops 23 shots, Kings beat Wings 4-1

By LARRY LAGE
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Jonathan Quick made some spectacular saves to keep the Los Angeles Kings within a goal and they took advantage of the opportunity to come back and win.

Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored 2:10 apart late in the second period to put the Kings ahead and they went on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Quick made 23 saves, including some sprawling stops in the second period that kept the Kings within a goal.

“He made at least two saves on what looked like sure goals in the second period, and that changed the whole game,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We were giving up way too many chances, but he kept us in the game.”

After Brown and Kopitar puts the Kings ahead, they pulled away in the third. Adrian Kempe scored early in the period and Kopitar’s second goal of the game gave Los Angeles a three-goal cushion with 7-plus minutes left.

Kopitar leads the Kings with 11 goals, one fewer than he had all of last season.

“I’m feeling good this year, and maybe that’s the whole difference,” he said. “I’m confident about my game in a way that I wasn’t last season. I played a lot of hockey last year before the season even started, with the Olympic qualifiers and the World Cup. I was tired before we even got going, and I had a bad year.”

The Red Wings started strong, but couldn’t recover when they failed to get another shot past Quick.

“He does it against lots of people, lots of nights,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “A lot of credit goes to him, but I still think we can get more net presence.”

Detroit’s Mike Green broke a scoreless tie late in the first period and Jimmy Howard finished with 32 saves.

“I had a few chances that I just have to put in the net,” Gustav Nyquist said. “He’s a good goalie who makes some of those crazy saves. We had enough chances to score more than one goal.”

The Kings have won two straight after losing three in a row and seven of eight.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do before we are the team we want to be, but this was a big performance by everyone on our team,” Los Angeles coach John Stevens said. “It wasn’t just the top lines. It was everyone.”

The Red Wings have lost five straight, one shy of their season-long skid from last month, after winning six of the previous nine games.

NOTES: Green ended an 18-game scoring drought and Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg extended his streak without a goal to 18 games. “Obviously, it’s not fun when you don’t score,” Zetterberg said. “So I take big responsibility in that.” ... Los Angeles began a four-game road trip. ... After most of the fans had left Little Caesars Arena, a few of them chanted, “Fire Hol-land! Fire Hol-land,” referring to the team’s general manager Ken Holland.

UP NEXT

Kings: Play Thursday night at Washington.

Red Wings: Host Montreal on Thursday night.

“We better have urgency on Thursday,” Blashill said.

MacKinnon's OT goal caps Avs' rally over Red Wings

By BOB DUFF
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Jared Bednar thought his Colorado Avalanche got what they deserved Sunday night.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill didn’t disagree.

Nathan MacKinnon scored 2:55 into overtime and Colorado overcame a late two-goal deficit to beat Detroit 4-3.

Niklas Kronwall put Detroit ahead 3-1 with 8:53 left in the third period, but Nail Yakupov made it 3-2 on a power play with 6:15 remaining before Carl Soderberg tied it with Colorado’s goalie pulled in the final minute.

MacKinnon snapped a low shot to the short side past goalie Jimmy Howard for the winner.

Colorado had to rally, but it was the better team most of the night. It held a 24-14 edge in shots through two periods and finished with a 37-24 advantage, a measure that Avalanche coach Bednar felt was a true barometer of the game.

“I’ve liked the way our team’s kind of kept battling,” Bednar said. “Even in Nashville yesterday (a 5-2 loss), we were out of that game but we kept playing, not giving up.

“You’ve got to play the whole game and give yourself the best chance, and at least develop habits in games like that when you’re out. We kept playing yesterday and got two third-period goals. We kept playing today and got two more.”

Justin Abdelkader and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for the Wings. Erik Johnson had Colorado’s other goal. Howard had 33 saves.

The Wings took a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the second period when Athanasiou split the Colorado defense and beat goalie Jonathan Bernier with a forehand deke move.

They increased the advantage to 3-1 when Kronwall scored his first of the season on a power play.

About three minutes later, Yakupov got one back on a power play after defenseman Johnson made a strong play at the blue line to keep a Detroit clearing attempt in the zone.

“I was really happy when he stopped it so we had a chance to create our moment and make sure we had our shot,” Yakupov said. “It was kind of a good play around the net and I got a lucky bounce, so all I had to do was shoot it and that’s what I did.”

With Bernier on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Soderberg redirected MacKinnon’s shot past Jimmy Howard at 19:14.

“The goal is going to get scored from some place around the net on a deflection or a tip, so you’ve got to have traffic,” Bednar said. “And that’s what Carl did.”

As unhappy as he was that his team let the game get away, Blashill wasn’t shocked by the outcome.

“We didn’t play good enough from the start, so we got in my opinion one more point than we deserved,” Blashill said. “I thought they outskated us the whole game.

“We were in position to steal the game. Eventually over the course of 60 minutes, it caught up to us and they were able to tie it.”

NOTES: Bernier stopped 21 shots. ... Detroit D Danny DeKeyser appeared in his first game since suffering a sprain and hairline fracture to his ankle on Oct. 10 in Dallas. ... The Avalanche completed their fifth set of back-to-back games this season. They are 1-4 in the second game.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Return home to face Dallas on Wednesday night.

Red Wings: Continue their five-game homestand against Edmonton on Wednesday night.

Tatar goal lifts Red Wings past Sabres

DETROIT -- Call them dirty goals, greasy goals, even garbage goals, they are the types of tallies that haven't been a part of the Detroit Red Wings' game plan in recent years. 

That situation, though, appears to be changing.

The Wings scratched and clawed their way to a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, and they did so by doing the sorts of things they aren't known for as a team -- throwing pucks to the net, gaining a net-front presence and cashing in on second-chance scoring opportunities.

These are the sorts of tactics coach Jeff Blashill has been demanding of his team for some time, and it finally looks like they are buying into what he's selling.

"No question, it's how you score in this league for the most part," Blashill said. "You have to score dirty. It's just the reality of the league. I think we've done a way better job of having bodies at the net, throwing pucks at the net from the side, making sure we're shooting, having a shot-first mentality when you can.

"It doesn't mean you can't make plays, but let's have a shot-first mentality. I think we've done a good job creating chaos."

Luke Glendening, Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin scored for the Wings (10-8-2), who snapped a four-game losing streak against Buffalo. Ryan O'Reilly replied for the Sabres (5-10-4), who are winless in four games (0-2-2).

"We are embarrassed by this," O'Reilly said. "We have to play with a much better effort than we showed tonight."

All of Detroit's goals arrived in similar fashion, via hard work and determination.

"Especially in a game like this, those are the goals you're probably going to get," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We got them here tonight and that was good."

Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, who shut out the Red Wings 1-0 on Oct. 24, looked to have Detroit's number again. Glendending finally solved him on the Red Wings' 21st shot of the night, ending Lehner's shutout sequence against Detroit at 126:11.

Glendening won a puck battle with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe behind the Buffalo net, chipping it across to Darren Helm. Helm brought the puck out from back of the net and fed a cross-crease pass to Glendening.

Lehner (30 saves) got a pad on Glendening's shot, but he fired the rebound past Lehner.

"We were sticking with the program," Glendening said. "And we had a good third in response to their goal. We came back with two.

"That's what you need to do."

The Sabres tied it 5:50 into the third period. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard (19 saves) stopped Victor Antipin's shot, but the rebound when right to O'Reilly, who snapped the puck into the net.

Tatar's fifth of the season, just 2:46 after O'Reilly's goal, proved to be the game winner.

With Wings forward Justin Abdelkader screening Lehner, Tatar's long wrist shot from just inside the blue line banked off the top of Lehner's pad and into the net.

"I don't know who stands in front, I'm guessing it was Abby," Tatar said. "Big thanks. (Lehner) probably didn't see much and I was fortunate to get the puck in."

Larkin added an insurance goal with 4:06 left in regulation. Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet shot from an odd angle and Larkin slammed the rebound past Lehner.

"That was great work by my linemates," Larkin said. "Tats (Tatar) was right there in front. If he's not there, that puck doesn't bounce there and if X doesn't shoot the puck it doesn't get to me."

Sabres coach Phil Housley echoed O'Reilly's sentiments and was displeased by his team's performance.

"We didn't have any discipline and we didn't have any effort," Housley said. "We got outworked, outplayed and outhustled.

"We were slow tonight, and that's not acceptable."

NOTES: Red Wings D Trevor Daley, who left Wednesday's game against Calgary with an upper-body injury, was back in the lineup. ... D Brian Lashoff, called up from AHL Grand Rapids, made his season debut for the Red Wings. ... D/RW Luke Witkowski served the first of a 10-game NHL suspension for returning to the ice to rejoin a fight after he was removed from the game by officials. ... RW Martin Frk (groin) and D Danny DeKeyser (ankle) were out with injuries. ... LW David Booth was a healthy scratch. ... D Casey Nelson and LW Matt Moulson were healthy scratches for the Sabres. ... The Sabres list six players on injured reserve -- D Matt Tennyson, Taylor Fedun, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian, LW Evan Rodrigues and C Jacob Josefson. ... Dean Morton, one of two NHL referees assigned to the game, played one game for the Red Wings in 1989-90 and scored a goal. He's the only player to do that in the history of the franchise. ... Sabres C Kyle Criscuolo, who made his NHL debut, won a Calder Cup title last season with Detroit's Grand Rapids farm club.

Short-handed Red Wings host Sabres

Stats, LLC

DETROIT -- As they prepared to play the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings were left to wonder whether they'd have enough players to play the game.

The Wings confirmed that Luke Witkowski, who was assessed 35 minutes in penalties, including a game misconduct, during a late-game line brawl in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the Calgary Flames, will receive a 10-game suspension from the NHL. After being escorted from the ice by game officials, Witkowski returned to rejoin the fight.

Defenseman Trevor Daley also left Wednesday's game with an upper-body injury.

"Right now, I'd call Daley day-to-day," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "I don't know what that means though. I don't know if that means day-to-day 10 days or day-to-day Friday.

"I would not rule him out for Friday, but he's certainly questionable."

If Daley can't go, there's a chance that defenseman Danny DeKeyser (ankle) could answer the bell. DeKeyser, who has missed the last 16 games, returned to practice this week and is targeting a weekend return to action, either Friday against the Sabres or Sunday at home to the Colorado Avalanche.

"That's what I'm hoping for," DeKeyser said. "That's kind of like the best-case scenario. If it keeps feeling better and I keep feeling better on the ice, it's definitely a possibility."

Forwards Martin Frk (groin) and Darren Helm (undisclosed) missed Wednesday's game but Helm is expected to play Friday.

The Wings currently have no extra healthy bodies, and suited up 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the last two games instead of the customary 12:6 ratio. If none of their other walking wounded are healthy enough to play Friday, they will recall someone from AHL Grand Rapids.

On the ice, the Wings will hope to see a continuation of the contributions they've been getting from their young forwards. Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Dylan Larkin combined for five goals in the win over the Flames. Larkin scored a short-handed goal, Detroit's fourth of the season, giving the Wings a share of the NHL lead in that category.

In the midst of a five-game homestand and a stretch where they will play 13 of 15 at home, the Wings, 3-2-2 in their new rink at Little Caesars Arena, are hopeful that Wednesday's game can be a stepping stone to establishing a home-ice advantage.

"We know we can score a lot of goals and obviously Howie (goalie Jimmy Howard) is playing great," Mantha said. "If we play as a team every time like this we'll be a hard team to play against."

As with the Wings, Buffalo is also dealing with some injury issues. Thursday, the Sabres placed defensemen Taylor Fedun (lower body) and Matt Tennyson (foot) on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Casey Nelson and forward Kyle Criscuolo from AHL Rochester.

The Sabres have lost three in a row, the last two in overtime, and are also winless in their last three on the road (0-1-2). They've surrendered 11 goals in their past three games, and coach Phil Housley is unhappy with his team's defensive awareness.

"If we have to play defense, we have to defend well," Housley told the Buffalo News. "You have to defend well. You have to play well without the puck if you're going to win."

Red Wings rout Flames 8-2

By BOB DUFF
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Luke Witkowski called it old-time hockey. The Calgary Flames called it just plain stupid.

The Flames were unhappy with the way Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings started, but they were appalled by the way it finished.

With 5:56 remaining in Detroit’s 8-2 victory, Red Wings forward Luke Witkowski went after Flames forward Brett Kulak. Their fight escalated into a full-fledged line brawl when Witkowski, who had been escorted off the ice by the linesmen, attempted to return to the fray and was jabbed by the stick of Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk.

Witkowski was assessed a fighting major, two 10-minute misconducts and a game misconduct, and probably should expect to hear from the NHL about additional discipline.

“That’s what I like to call old-time hockey,” Witkowski said. “I think it’s good for the game. It brings fans into the sport.”

The Flames begged to differ, using other adjectives to describe the fight and Witkowski.

“Wisniewski, or whatever his name is, was just an absolute wrecking ball trying to start stuff, starting a complete circus with how many minutes left?” said Tkachuk, who was assessed a spearing major. “It’s a joke that a guy like that would ... just do something pretty stupid that kind of started everything. And then (he) turns back and chirps our whole bench, didn’t want to go anywhere, so I just went over there to give him a little poke and tell him just to get out of here.

“He was just looking for an excuse to come back. It’s just stupid.”

One of the other bouts saw Detroit’s Anthony Mantha and Calgary’s Travis Hamonic fall through an open gate near the Red Wings’ bench. Mantha fell on top, kept pounding away at Hamonic and was given a fighting major and two game misconducts.

“He’s a good, young player, but he’s a young player and he’ll learn that there’s a code in those sort of things,” Hamonic said. “He’ll be on the other side of it one day and realize that’s probably not the way you act.”

Mantha punished the Flames in the traditional manner as well, scoring a pair of power-play goals. He added an assist, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game.

“I was joking with (Calgary’s Micheal) Ferland (who had a goal and an assist) before the third that we should go so we could both get our Gordie, but I was really thinking about getting a regular hat trick, not that one,” Mantha said.

Detroit coach Jeff Blashill was far more excited by the payload Mantha delivered with his gloves on.

“Having him net front on the power play has helped him learn the value of going to the net,” Blashill said. “I think that’s a huge part of Mantha’s development.

“He’s learned to be a weapon and when you’re a weapon there, you score goals.”

Andreas Athanasiou had a pair of goals, and Dylan Larkin, Luke Glendening, Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist also scored for Detroit.

Ferland and Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames.

For all intents and purposes the game was over by the end of the first period after the Red Wings raced to a 4-1 lead.

“I don’t think we were prepared to play,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We were light on our sticks and that was evident in the goals.

“We were getting embarrassed and we weren’t competing.”

NOTES: Detroit D Trevor Daley left in the second period with an upper-body injury. ... Wearing a protective facemask, Abdelkader (broken cheekbone) returned to action after missing one game.

UP NEXT

Flames: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

Red Wings: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in the third game of a five-game homestand.