Red Wings: Gibson’s goaltending, rookies stand out in latest win
Detroit Red Wings John Gibson, Axel Sandin Pellikka & Todd McLellan, Oct. 17, 2025 in Detroit.
There was applause for an early penalty, then louder applause for a budding star rookie defenseman’s first NHL goal, and at the end, applause for a growing winning streak.
The Detroit Red Wings, playing at Little Caesars Arena for the fourth time in five games, started well but had little pushback when the Tampa Bay Lightning pressed towards the end, forcing the game on Friday, Oct. 17, past regulation. Dylan Larkin scored in overtime to secure a 2-1 victory that made it four straight victories.
The Wings lacked Lucas Raymond (upper body injury) and the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov (illness). Jojn Gibson, making his first start since being pulled on opening night, didn’t have much to do the first period, but he was busy in the third as the Lightning pressed to erase a one-goal deficit, running up an 11-2 edge in shots in the first half.
Gibson lasted until there was 3:43 left – with the Bolts outshooting the Wings, 17-3, just in the third period – before he gave up a goal to J.J. Moser. Shots at the end of regulation favored Tampa Bay, 31-28.
It was Axel Sandin Pellikka, drafted at No. 17 in 2023, who made it 1-0. The 20-year-old showed in camp what a standout he is with the puck, and demonstrated that against the Lightning when he took a pass from Dylan Larkin and carried the puck to the high slot. He fired a shot that went through the legs of a leaping Mason Appleton, deflecting in off Brandon Hagel and past Andrei Vasilevskiy at 13:02 of the first period.
That was less than a minute after the Bolts registered their first shot on Gibson. And that was with having had a power play near the midpoint of the period (with shots favoring the Wings, 7-0) as the Wings penalty killers were so effective they possessed the puck the entire time.
While the penalty killers improved to three-for-three during the second period, the Wings’ power play, which converted chances in each of the first four games, had a hard time getting established as a threat through two-man advantages, either struggling to get set up or to get shots through on Vasilevskiy. They were better at even strength, with a 22-11 edge in shots after two periods.
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