Matt Charboneau
| Special to The Detroit News
Simon Edvinsson scored at 1:46 of overtime to give the Red Wings a 3-2 win against the Maple Leafs.
Simon Edvinsson scored at 1:46 of overtime to give the Red Wings a 3-2 win against the Maple Leafs.
Detroit — There’s little doubt Simon Edvinsson was dealing with a sore knee on Sunday night. The ice pack strapped to the outside of his right leg was evidence of that.
But it was also emblematic of the role the big defenseman played in the Detroit Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena.
Not only did Edvinsson score the winner less than two minutes into overtime, it was his shot-blocking sequence in the second period — the one that made the postgame ice pack necessary — that was equally as critical as the Wings bounced back from Saturday’s ugly 5-2 loss in Carolina and recorded their third straight overtime victory.
“We didn’t play like we wanted yesterday, and we knew this game would be huge against a rival,” Edvinsson said. “To come back two times is huge for the group. We need to take these wins and build off them.”
The comeback would have been nearly impossible without the play of Edvinsson.
It all started with the Red Wings trailing, 1-0, midway through the second period and playing shorthanded after a slashing call on J.T. Compher.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 3, Maple Leafs 2, OT
First Edvinsson took a blast from Auston Matthews square in the knee, sending him crumpling to the ice. As the play continued, Edvinsson tried to get back to his feet but failed, essentially crawling back into the shooting lane.
That’s when Matthews fired again and this time Edvinsson managed to raise his stick and deflect the puck. The crowd roared, the penalty was killed.
“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, like his stick, that you saw after he was down for the count,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “He still got his stick on it, but he got hit in the spot where (his leg) went numb and needed a little time to get some feeling back. When he came back was good to go and played a hell of a game.”
His return impressed his teammates and was important considering he got the winner during 3-on-3 action in overtime.
“He rose from the dead and came back and scored an unbelievable goal,” forward Mason Appleton said. “It was a solid game. I thought he defended their top guys really well. On the PK there, that was a gutsy effort. He blocked that first one then can’t get off the ice and found a way to get his stick on the next one. It’s a good karma thing how he gets rewarded with that overtime winner.”
It was the perfect cap to the night for the Red Wings, who were not happy with how they played the night before.
After a scoreless first period, the action started to pick up in the second and the Maple Leafs were the first to break through, taking advantage of a tripping penalty called on Ben Chiarot just 3:40 into the period.
Less than a minute later, Matthew Knies scored his 10th goal of the season, knocking home a pass from Matthews while taking a crosscheck to the back, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead at 4:25 of the second. Matthews and John Tavares drew the assists.
Not long after Edvinsson’s shot-blocking display, consistent offensive pressure from the Wings paid off. After Lucas Raymond beat Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby only to have his shot ring off the post, Moritz Seider fired a wrist shot from the blue line that found its way past Hildeby to tie the score a goal each with 59 second left in the second period.
It was Seider’s seventh goal of the season as Raymond drew the only assist, his 31st of the season.
“Any time you can score late in the period like that it gives you a little momentum,” McLellan said. “We got rewarded for that stretch that we were playing and there was a good, positive vibe for first time since Christmas going into the third.”
Detroit was dangerous early in the final period, but a giveaway in its own end wound up with the puck in the back of its own net when Bobby McCann one-timed a pass from Max Domi past Cam Talbot at 4:59 to put Toronto ahead, 2-1. It was McCann’s 12th goal of the season and Domi’s 14th assist.
The Wings responded quickly as Appleton took a feed from Michael Rasmussen, beating Hildeby 23 seconds later for his fourth goal of the season, tying the score at 2-2. It was Rasmussen’s seventh assist with the second assist going to Albert Johansson, his fifth of the season.
“To answer right back calms you right down and puts you back in that same mindset you were playing in before (the giveaway),” Appleton said.
The Red Wings came close to finishing it in the final minutes of regulation, but Andrew Copp was denied by Hildeby, then hit the post after he had corralled the rebound.
But just 1:46 into overtime, Edvinsson ended it.
“I’m glad that he’s defending as well as he is with (Seider),” McLellan said. “They eat a lot of minutes up and any offense we get from either of those two is a bonus.”
Matt Charboneau is a freelance writer.
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