Red Wings Stay Alive With Overtime Win

The Red Wings aren’t done yet.

Not as long as Marco Kasper is around, at least.

The Red Wings rookie scored twice, the second one in overtime, as the Wings edged Tampa Bay 4-3, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

That win, coupled with Montreal’s loss to Ottawa, kept Detroit in the running, six points behind Montreal with three games left in the regular season.

It was a hard-fought win for Detroit, which had the kind of puck luck, or lack thereof, that has plagued them in the final six weeks. That included two shots hitting the crossbar within a few seconds of each other, and a Tampa Bay goal scored when Moritz Seider lost his helmet, of all things.

But the  Red Wings persevered, and Kasper’s second goal of the night won it in overtime,

“They showed each other a lot,” coach Todd McLellan said. “It showed way more than what they showed me. They played for each other. It didn’t look good when they scored early, but we stayed with it.”

Patrick Kane scored Detroit’s first goal, his 492nd in the NHL. It lifted him into 51st place all-time.

Tyler Motte scored when a shot off the boards and then off Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Gage Goncalves scored the next two goals to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead before Kasper’s heroics.

“I think they were kind of tired,” Kasper said. “I just kind of skated by and scored.”

And so the Red Wings lived to skate another day.

“We obviously know the position we’re in,” said goalie Alex Lyon, who made 18 saves. “We didn’t quit, and that’s what hockey is all about. We’ve got a a resilient team here. We just have to show what kind of people we are. We’re going to continue to grind.

“This is the NHL,” he continued. “The hamster wheel never stops. You either sink or you swim.”

For at least one more night, the Red Wings kept their heads above water.