Dylan Larkin’s breakaway goal with 1:24 left in overtime lifted the host Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored his first career goal during the first period. Larkin assisted on the rookie’s first-period marker and has contributed at least one point in all of the Red Wings’ five games this season.
John Gibson made 31 saves. It was a bounce back effort for Gibson, who allowed five goals in less than two periods to Montreal during the Red Wings’ season opener. Gibson was acquired in a trade with Anaheim during the offseason to be the team’s No. 1 goaltender but hadn’t played since that first-game flop.
The Lightning’s J.J. Moser tied the game with 3:43 remaining in regulation. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 shots.
Both teams were lacking their best offensive weapon.
The Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, one of the league’s premier scorers, was a late scratch due to an illness. Lucas Raymond, Detroit’s leading scorer last season, missed his second consecutive game due to an upper-body injury.
The breakthrough goal for Sandin-Pellikka, a 20-year-old defenseman from Sweden, occurred with 6:58 left in the opening period. His shot from just inside the blue line zipped past a screened Vasilevskiy. Larkin and Mason Appleton were credited with the assists.
Detroit controlled the play most of the period, doubling up the Lightning in shots on goal 12-6.
Both sides had a pair of power plays during the second period. Detroit once again doubled up Tampa Bay in shots on goal 10-5, but there was still a lack of quality chances.
Midway through the third, Gibson made a glove save against Mitchell Chaffee while spread out on the ice during a scramble in front of the net. Gibson robbed Jake Guentzel on back-to-back shots moments later.
Moser ended the Lightning’s drought with a shot from the point with 3:43 left. Victor Hedman and Conor Geekie picked up the assists.
Larkin beat Vasilevskiy on the stick side for the game-winner.
The Lightning wrap up a four-game road trip at Columbus on Saturday, while the Red Wings close out a three-game homestand on Sunday against Edmonton.
–Field Level Media
