In Newark Saturday night, Pavel Zacha and Blake Coleman staked the Devils to a 2-0 lead but New Jersey couldn’t hold the advantage as the Detroit Red Wings rallied for two goals in regulation to force extra time.
Dylan Larkin finished the rally with a goal just 51 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win.
“I told [Anthony Mantha ] I’d try to get the puck to the left side to him and I did,” Larkin said. “Then we ended up getting a 2-on-1 and he slipped it over last minute and I had the whole net … it was a great play by him.”
The Wings improved to 99-2.
“There’s no question that [Larkin] wants the big moment, and sometimes he wants it too much and he tries too hard and makes mistakes,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “But there’s zero doubt that he wants the moment.”
Luke Glendening and Michael Rasmussen had the Red Wings’ regulation goals.
Detroit is 8-2-0 in their last 10.
“Confidence is the biggest factor to success in the NHL today because of how close every team is and how close every player is,” Blashill said. “I can’t say that enough times. I don’t know if it’s understood totally from the outside, but it’s the biggest factor. As you win, you gain confidence and certainly gain some swagger.”
Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves to get the win.
New Jersey dropped to 8-8-2.
“The majority of the game we did some things we wanted to do,” New Jersey head coach John Hynes said. “At the end of the day, we made some mistakes and they wound up in our net.”
[WATCH: All Red Wings vs. Devils highlights]
Keith Kinkaid made 27 saves for the loss.
“I thought we played really well in the first period and were rewarded,” Zacha said. “We were in the offensive zone and had a lot of chances. I was happy it finally went in for me but the result of the game was that we lost.”
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