In Detroit, Jamie Benn scored with just 32 seconds elapsed in extra time on Saturday, to give the Dallas Stars a 2-1 win over the Red Wings.
The game-winner came off a 2-n-1 break.
“[Filip Hronek] took away the pass, so I figured I’d shoot,” Benn said. “We stuck to our game plan and figured it would eventually pay off.”
The win made it three of four in the set with Detroit.
“We’ve lost a lot of games where we dominated, but we certainly deserved to win this one,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “It’s crazy that it went to overtime, but Bernier played a fantastic game.”
Anton Khudobin made 16 saves in the win.
“It’s tough to go into overtime and lose, especially on a play you didn’t want to make,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “That was a needless chance. We have to execute better in that situation.”
Dallas is within two points of the Nashville Predators who reside in the fourth playoff spot in the Central.
“You want to play in meaningful games, and every one of ours is going to be exactly that,” Dallas’ Mark Pysyk said. “We’re fighting for our playoff lives and the competition level is going to be high. That’s what makes it fun.”
The Red Wings nursed a 1-0 lead from a first period goal by Dennis Cholowski.
Pysyk tied the game to force extra time with a goal at 11:55 of the third period.
“It was good to see [Pysyk] get that one and get us going,” Benn said. “There were 19 guys in the dressing room who were pretty happy for him.”
Jonathan Bernier made 50 saves in the loss, a career high in the NHL.
“I don’t remember a game quite like that one,” Bernier said. “They’ve got so many good shooters, especially on defense, and they were shooting from everywhere.”
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