Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin chases Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl during overtime in Edmonton. The Red Wings won 5-4 in a shootout on Feb. 15, 2023.JASON FRANSON
The Detroit Red Wings continue to successfully find ways to win so far in the second half of the season.
Pius Suter scored the shootout winner as the Red Wings held on for a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, extending their winning streak to four games. Detroit has gone 7-3 in its last 10 outings.
“It was a huge team win being up 4-2 and they tied it up and still getting away with two points,” Suter said. “In different games you have to find different ways to score.
“Today, it was a couple of faceoff plays, our special teams were good and that’s how you keep winning.”
Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, Robby Fabbri and Olli Maatta scored in regulation for the Red Wings (25-20-8). Ville Husso made 41 saves between before the shootout.
“Just winning on the road is difficult period, let alone against a team like that with the type of offence they have,” said Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde.
“There are moments when they put you on your heels, and it’s important for the next shift or the next guy to step up and I thought for the most part, we managed the game fairly well tonight and Husse was probably the difference in a tight game on the road.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a pair of goals and Leon Draisaitl and Derek Ryan also replied for the Oilers (30-19-6), who have dropped two in a row. Edmonton has also lost six straight games that have gone to extra time.
Jack Campbell stopped 19-of-23 shots leading up to the shootout.
“We had a couple of breakdowns that they capitalized on,” Draisaitl said. “They really didn’t get much. I thought we dominated the entire game, pretty much.
“It was definitely frustrating, but it is hard to win in this league when you give up four.”
Detroit opened the scoring 4:17 into the first period on the power play as Larkin snuck a short-side shot past Campbell to extend his goal streak to four games. He has six goals across the stretch and 21 on the season.
The Red Wings added a bizarre goal at 17:19 when Seider sent a backhand shot from the corner towards the net and it caromed off defenceman Philip Broberg, the post, and then Campbell before going in.
Nugent-Hopkins got the Oilers on the board 1:26 into the second period when he ripped a wrist shot past Husso.
Fabbri restored Detroit’s two-goal edge on the power play when he crept in from the point and beat Campbell clean to the far side at 9:06.
Edmonton made it a one-goal game just over two minutes later as Connor McDavid sent a one-handed pass across the crease to Nugent-Hopkins, who recorded his 26th goal of the season in his 55th game. Nugent-Hopkins’s career best is 28 goals in 82 games in 2018-19.
Maatta made it 4-2 with 3:48 to play in the second, scoring his fifth goal of the season on a point blast off the faceoff.
The Oilers power play went to work 3:26 into the third period as Draisaitl put all his weight behind a one-timer to score his 31st of the campaign.
Edmonton pulled even two minutes later as a long Kostin shot was deftly tipped past Husso by Ryan into the net, eventually sending the game to overtime.
Notes
The Oilers were forced to deviate from their recent practice of dressing seven defencemen and 11 forwards when blue-liner Vincent Desharnais was unable to dress due to illness. Also out for Edmonton was Kailer Yamamoto, who is ready to return but can’t be added to the lineup at the moment due to salary cap concerns, and Ryan Murray (back) ... Missing for Detroit was Lucas Raymond (lower body) and Jake Walman (upper body) Larkin is averaging a career-high 0.98 pints per game this season and is on pace for a career-high 79 points (32 goals, 48 assists) this season, and if he keeps it up would be the first Red Wings player with back-to-back 30-goal seasons since Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg both did so in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Up next
The Red Wings are right back at it on Thursday as they take on the Calgary Flames in the third game of a five-game trip. The Oilers play host to the New York Rangers on Friday.