DETROIT — Mason Appleton‘s post-game analysis on Detroit Red Wings teammate Simon Edvinsson’s memorable performance started with a sentence that you don’t often read in an NHL scouting report.

“He rose from the dead and came back and scored an unbelievable goal,” Appleton said as if he were making small talk.

What actually happened was Edvinsson, the team’s top shot blocker, put himself between a John Tavares shot and the Detroit net. The puck struck him on the inside of his knee. Edvinsson was trying to help the Red Wings kill a Moritz Seider penalty midway through the third period of a 2-2 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Edvinsson was felled by the shot, clearly in intense pain.

Edvinsson gets hurt on a blocked shot and then BLOCKS ANOTHER SHOT WHILE DOWN WITH HIS STICK

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“He’s one of our best shot blockers and he’s got such a big body and range that he always seems to get something in the line of the puck at least whether it’s a stick,” Coach Todd McLellan said.  “You saw that after he was down for the count. He’s still got a stick on it, but. But he got it in a spot where everything kind of went numb and he needed a little bit of time to get some feeling back in that leg. And when it came back, he was good to go. Played a hell of a game.”

‘Gutsy Effort’

While lying on the ice, Edvinsson blocked another shot with his stick. The Red Wings killed off the penalty and Edvinsson was helped off the ice. but he returned to the bench, ready to play, in two minutes and 10 seconds. Just to make his night a better story, he scored the overtime game-winner a Red Wings 3-2 win that completed a three-game sweep against Toronto in the regular-season.

“That was a gutsy effort,” Appleton said. “Blocked that first one and then can’t get off the ice. Find a way to get a stick on the next one. And then it’s kind of a good karma thing how he gets rewarded at the end with that overtime winner.”

Even Edvinsson thought he was in trouble after the shot connected.

“For sure something was off. I couldn’t feel my foot or my, my knee,” Edvinsson said. “From the knee and down and hit some nerves or something like that.”

Offense Still Developing

He said the trainers knew what to do to get him ready to play.

“That’s some magical stuff from the trainers back there,” Edvinsson said. “I’m not gonna spread the rumor about that

He was ready in overtime to carry the puck to the net. He made a move across the goalmouth, to beat Dennis Hildeby at 1:46 of overtime.

“I saw the opportunity, goalie was out and Toronto player fell,” Edvinsson said, “and I just took the opportunity and put it into the net for one.”

It was the fifth goal of the season for the 6-foot-7 defenseman known mostly for his ability to defend. The Red Wings have been a more effective team since he was paired with Seider.

It’s assumed, not confirmed, that the Red Wings’ attempt at landing Quinn Hughes from Vancouver were torpedoed by their unwillingness to part with Edvinsson. There’s a feeling that his development is just beginning.

“He’s got offense. We saw it last year with his shot,” McLellan said. “Sometimes I wish he would shoot more because he’s got a really good shot.”

He has 14 points this season and will likely end up with 30-plus points without being on the power play.

“He loads it at the blue line and then he’s ready to shoot,” McLellan said. “But he’s still looking for all these options. If he’d just rip them every now and then, I think he’d score a few more goals. But he certainly has offense. His game’s going to evolve. I’m really glad that he’s defending as well as he is with Mo. They eat a lot of minutes up, and any offense we can get from either of those two is a bonus.”