John Gibson made 31 saves in the Red Wings’ 2-1 overtime victory over the Lightning on Friday.
John Gibson made 31 saves in the Red Wings’ 2-1 overtime victory over the Lightning on Friday.
Detroit – The Red Wings’ impressive start to the regular season continues.
Dylan Larkin scored an overtime goal at 3 minutes, 36 seconds giving the Wings a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay.
Larkin took a loose puck and carried it alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy, beating the Lightning goalie cleanly for his third goal.
Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored his first NHL goal Friday and goaltender John Gibson stopped 31 shots to earn his first Wings’ victory, as the Wings rolled to a 4-1-0 record.
There a ton of positive vibes, naturally, in the locker room afterward.
“It’s loud music going, guys screaming and it’s the best feeling in the world,” defenseman Sandin-Pellikka said.
Sandin-Pellikka, on a delayed penalty, received the puck on the high slot and lifted a shot through a crowd past Vasilevskiy at 8:53 of the first period.
Equally impressive was the celebration. With the huddle mobbing Sandin-Pellikka in the corner and several players jumping up and down.
“Unbelievable, a little bit of a dream come true to score a goal,” said Sandin-Pellikka of seeing that first NHL goal. “It’s another step, and very happy and grateful we got the win. At first I wasn’t sure if it was (Mason) Appleton. He kind of pointed at me, gave me the (finger) point and I screamed. I don’t know what happened, but it was unbelievable.”
Sandin-Pellikka (20 years, 220 days) became the third-youngest Wings’ defenseman to score their first NHL goal in the past 35 years, following Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 2, Lightning 1 (OT)
In overtime, coach Todd McLellan started Larkin with Sandin-Pellikka and fellow rookie Emmitt Finnie, showing the level of confidence currently the Wings have in the young players.
“We feel like we can keep playing them,” McLellan said. “They’re not often at the scene of the crime, of mistakes. They make some, but they’re hungry and effective right now and we’ll keep playing them.”
Tampa tied the game 1-1 on J.J. Moser’s goal at 16:17 of the third period, Moser’s first goal, a slap shot from near the high slot that Gibson appeared to be screened on.
“Just kind of saw it at the last second, it got through,” Gibson said. “But we found a way to win and that’s all that matters.”
Gibson, after getting pulled in the season-opening loss, returned to game action and was impressive. GIbson was at his best in the third period, with Tampa pressing and holding a 19-6 shot advantage. Gibson didn’t see a shot for the opening 12 minutes.
“The toughest part was the first 10 minutes, not getting any shots and you get one off the head to make sure you’re in the game,” Gibson said. “It’s part of the job. Some nights you are bombarded by shots and others, it’s spread out. It’s the nature of the position. You always have to be ready and ready for whenever my name is called.”
Gibson brushed off the opening night loss quickly and was looking forward to returning to the net.
“That’s what I kind of pride myself on, when you have a bad one you have to follow up with a good one,” Gibson said. “I tried to do that, and the team helped me and it’s nice to get the win.”
McLellan wasn’t surprised to see Gibson rebound as strongly as he did.
“Not at all,” McLellan said. “We’ve watched him play in Anaheim multiple times, I’ve been on three different teams against him and that’s the type of game he gives us. That first night against Montreal, he’s wearing different equipment, and it goes by him last but the team struggled, and Talbs (Cam Talbot) went in and played some big games.
“But Gibby comes in and answers the bell and that’s a healthy thing for our team.”
The Wings’ penalty kill, such a disappointment last season, continued its early season success. The Wings killed all three Tampa power plays. The Wings also went 0-for-3 on the power play.
“Our power play allowed them to get back in the game,” McLellan said. “A power play has to score or establish momentum, and it didn’t do either and they start to push there (in the third period).”
Each team was missing a key offensive cog. The Wings were without Lucas Raymond (upper-body), who missed his second consecutive game, and Tampa was without Nikita Kucherov (illness).
The Wings entertain Edmonton, and stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the two-time Western Conference champion Oilers, Sunday at 3 p.m.
“You take points from anybody you can get, and we’re playing these teams (in the division) so many times during the year,” McLellan said. “You go up 1-0 in the (season) series, and if you win all your season series or come close to winning most of them, you usually end up where you’d like to at the end of the season.
“Now we have a team coming in on Sunday that has gone to the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years. That’ll be a big test for us too.”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
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