The Detroit Red Wings return home showcasing their resilience.
Their last four-game road trip of the season yielded three points, but by the end of the trip they were with a burgeoning sick bay. The Wings played well defensively against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, March 14, at American Airlines Center in Dallas but could not generate enough offense, and wound up losing 3-2 in overtime when Thomas Harley scored on a snapshot two minutes into the extra period.
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Goaltender John Gibson continued to do what he could control to keep his teammates in the race, and Lucas Raymond put himself in position in front of the net to tie the game with 3:26 to play.
Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) looks on against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
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With the point for reaching overtime, the Red Wings (36-23-8, 80 points) stayed a point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second and final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. They’re also two points behind the Montreal Canadiens, who lost Saturday night, for third in the Atlantic Division, and eight points back of the Atlantic-leading Buffalo Sabres.
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Next up for the Wings
They’ll come home to face another Western Conference foe – this one slightly less imposing than the Stars (No. 2 in the West) – on Monday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit): The Calgary Flames, who entered Saturday next to last in the West at 26-33-7. The Wings beat them, 4-3, out in Alberta back in mid-December.
Winged Wheel and injuries
The Wings played their second straight game without captain Dylan Larkin and No. 2 center Andrew Copp. Michael Rasmussen was also unavaibale for undisclosed reasons, but it may have been the effects of blocking a shot March 12 in the 4-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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The Wings had yet to register a shot we they fell behind nine minutes into the first period. Mavrik Bourque shook off Moritz Seider behind Detroit’s goal line to leave the puck for Wyatt Johnston. Johnston – who was drafted No. 23 overall in 2021 with a pick acquired from the Red Wings in swap of first-rounders so GM Steve Yzerman could take goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa – picked up the puck, spun around to elude Raymond, strode to the side of the net and stick-sent the puck behind Gibson. The goal was Johnston’s 36th goal this season and 125th of his four-year career. He later assisted on Harley’s goal.
The Wings’ challenge grew in the opening minute of the second period, when Seider was called for a penalty. There were only 6 seconds left on the penalty kill when the Stars scored, with Jason Robertson sending the puck across the slot to Justin Hryckowian, who found trade-deadline pickup Michael Bunting just outside to the front of the crease.
The Wings finally bested Oettinger 6:51 into the third period. Seider was in the high slot area when he made a pass to Simon Edvinsson, who was in the left circle. Edvinsson fired a shot towards the net that deflected into Dallas’ net.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.Â
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings rally in 3rd to nab OT point vs Dallas