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It may not translate into long-term success, but for now the Red Wings will take it.
For the fourth time in six games, the Wings defied the odds and fought back from a two-goal deficit to win a hockey game, defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center. .
Detroit could only muster four shots on net in the first period in which it looked a bit sluggish and trailed 1-0 after one. The Devils had 15 shots in the first.
But as they have done recently, the Wings found their legs and started to mount a comeback late in the second period.
Luke Glendening scored at 18:26 of the second off a nifty feed from rookie Dennis Cholowski to pull Detroit to within one goal.
Trailing 2-1 after two did not bode well for the Red Wings.
Since 2016-17, the Devils were 57-0-13 when leading after two periods, but rookie Michael Rasmussen's tally in front of the net at 13:37 of the third tied the score and Dylan Larkin won it in overtime, converting on a two-on-one with Anthony Mantha.
Glendening, Rasmussen, and Larkin were the Wings' goal scorers, but Tyler Bertuzzi led them in points, dishing out assists on the Glendening and Rasmussen goals.
Pavel Zacha and Blake Coleman (shorthanded) scored for the Devils, who dropped to 8-8-2.
With the win, the Wings now stand at 9-9-2 and they have a few days to savory their victory. Detroit's next action will be Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena as the Wings welcome the Boston Bruins into town on the evening before Thanksgiving.
Not all the news from New Jersey was good. Darren Helm suffered a lower-body injury early in the first period and did not return to the game.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill told reporters after the game that Helm would be out for some time and the team would have more information after Monday's practice.
1. Jonathan Bernier: During the Wings' recent run of coming back from two-goal deficits, Detroit's goaltenders have given the Wings the opportunity to mount their gallant comebacks with stellar play. Saturday against the Devils, Bernier was nothing short of magnificent. Time after time, the Devils were given an open lane to the Detroit netminder and Bernier was equal to the task, making several point-blank saves. He finished with a .950 save percentage, stopping 38 of the 40 shots he faced. He is now 3-3-0 with a 3.59 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. With his second consecutive win, Bernier is the first Detroit goalie other than Jimmy Howard to win back-to-back starts since Petr Mrazek -- Jan. 31, 2018 (2-1 over San Jose in shootout) and Feb. 2, 2018 (4-1 at Carolina).
Quotable: "I thought he was great. Our goaltending's been real good here during this stretch. That would probably be the other thing in the last 10 games, we've gotten real good goaltending every night. It's not an easy role but it is one that (Bernier) has done so he understands the role a bit. One of the reasons we wanted to make sure and get him a start tonight, now it's no more than seven days between starts. So we're going to keep trying to make sure we get him his starts and when he plays like that, he'll keep getting them. We'd like to have a great 1-2 punch and that's what we've had so far this year." -- Blashill
Quotable II: "Whenever (Blashill) tells me I'm playing I can't really focus on how many games I'll play or how many games Howie will play. I feel like me and Howie are pushing each other every day and we're trying to do our best every game to win some hockey games and that's our only job. I can't control how many games I'll play." -- Bernier
2. Luke Glendening: If you were to take a poll among NHL players on who they believe is one of the NHL's supreme agitators, Glendening would certainly garner a few votes, but he's much more than a pest. Against the Devils, Glendening's goal at 18:26 of the second period ignited the Wings, but perhaps where his presence was most felt was in the face-off circle. Glendening won 15 of his 17 draws for a success rate of 88 percent. In 16:26 of ice time, he scored, was plus-2, blocked two shots and even saw a shift in overtime.
Quotable: "Huge. Huge. The longer you're down two, the better chance it can go 3-0. Then it's tough. You got to keep it within striking distance and that goal was huge. Our guys have done a good job. I just think there's a belief that we can stay with it there. Obviously, you got to score so the Glenny goal was a big goal to keep it within one. Now it's a one-shot game and we had some chances prior to the goal going in, to the Rasmussen goal going in, that I thought could have tied it, but we just stayed with it. I think our group's believing in themselves and they're having fun doing it." -- Blashill
Quotable II: "We had a bit of a tough start, which seems to be kind of the theme here lately. It was good to come back and great to get a win, for sure. (Cholowski) made an outstanding pass. He's been making great passes all year, showing his maturity at a young age. He's been outstanding for us and he did it again tonight." -- Glendening
3. Dylan Larkin: It's no longer a secret, the Red Wings are Dylan Larkin's team. The Michigan native thrives on being Detroit's go-to guy when the game is on the line and for the second time this season in overtime he came through scoring the game-winner. Larkin is a lot like former Red Wing Kris Draper in that his motor is always running hot. Against the Devils, he led all Wings forwards in ice time, clocking in at 21:44. He fired five shots and was 58 percent from the dot, winning 11 of his 18 face-offs. This season Larkin leads the Wings in scoring with 19 points in 20 games, including eight goals. His average ice time is 20:59 per game and he's winning 54.4 percent of his face-offs.
Quotable: "I was a little taken aback by their se- up there in OT on the draw. I told Mo (Mantha) I'm just trying to get the puck to the left side to you and it did and then we ended up getting a two-on-one and Mo, I think he threw me off, too. He slipped it over last minute and I had the whole net there, so it was a great play by him. It's awesome. It feels good coming in after games. We come from behind. We're finding ways to win, instead of last year, where it was going the opposite way. We were leading and we found ways to have nights where we fell apart. It feels good. It seems like it's a different way every time. I thought Glenny's line was great tonight. Bernie was awesome again. They got us going. We had to wake up a little bit after the first period there. A slow start for us but we did it again. We didn't panic and we stuck to our game and we got on the forecheck and that's when we started playing."- - Larkin
NHL.com
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