Red Wings rally for 3-2 win over Panthers in OT Larkin wins it n OT for Detroit

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In Sunrise, Dylan Larkin scored off the power play with 69 seconds gone in extra time on Wednesday night to send the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Panthers.

The Red Wings had trialed the Panthers, 2-1, entering the third period.

“It has been a tough building for us in the past few years,” Larkin said. “They are a good hockey team, so that was a big confidence boost for us in this building. Even when we played them at home (a 2-0 loss on Nov. 2), we played a solid game. Both had a playoff feel to them.”

Robby Fabbri scored at 6:15 of the third to tie the game, 2-2, and force the extra session.”We battled for 40 minutes, were down 2-1 going into the third, and had a chance,

” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Give these guys credit, it is very hard to win in this league. It is hard to win on the road. It is hard beating a top-echelon team, especially trailing going into the third. Good on our guys.”

Alex Lyon made 32 saves in the win.

“Obviously, it always feels good to beat the team you played for last year, but I respect those guys, and they have a fantastic team over there,” Lyon said. “We played really well tonight. I am super happy for the boys. Proud of the way we battled back.”

Detroit improved to 23-16-5.  The Red Wings pushed their active point streak to seven games.

After a scoreless opening stanza, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a strike by Sam Reinhart  at 5:38 of the middle frame.

For Reinhart it was eighth straight game with a goal, setting a franchise record.

“Any time you are in the conversation with Pavel Bure, that’s pretty cool,” Reinhart said.

Detroit got even, 1-1, when Michael Rasmussen hit at 11:40 of the second period.

The Panthers dropped to 27-13-4.

“We have lost one and two in overtime where it was a 3-on-3 game (a 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday) or a 4-on-3 game, and that’s really not what the game of hockey is,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We are not far off our game, and I believe that. … We are generating enough to win games and are not giving up a whole heck of a lot. We can be better, and you have to be better at this time of year. You have to be. Everyone you are playing are scratching and clawing.”

The tie lasted all of 16 seconds when Gustav Forsling scored off a rebound of his own shot.

“We had another lead in the third period, and we take pride in being a hard team to play against, especially late in games when we have the lead,” Reinhart said. “We did not give them much, but they capitalized. We’re going to learn from it and come back stronger. This was a tight game, two teams playing solid defensively. They capitalized late.”

Sergei  Bobrovsky made 27 saves.