Detroit Red Wings find a few quick answers, give up late lead, lose to Stars in OT, 5-4

The Detroit Red Wings showed their next-shift mentality, responding right away as their opponent tried to grab momentum.

Dylan Larkin grabbed the spotlight with a go-ahead goal Friday at Little Caesars Arena and Tyler Bertuzzi capped a three-point night with a power play goal, but the Wings had to settle for one point when they gave up a power play goal in overtime to the Dallas Stars in a 5-4 loss. 

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The Wings (18-17-6) couldn't take advantage of the Stars pulling their goalie and instead, Jason Robertson tied it with 1:03 to play in regulation. Roope Hintz scored at 2:51 of overtime, with Robby Fabbri in the penalty box for tripping.

Fabbri had a much better start, scoring 23 seconds after the Stars made it 1-0 in the first period, and Pius Suter followed with a goal two minutes after the Stars made made it 2-1 in the second. Larkin put the Wings up, 3-2, midway through the second period when he carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, splitting two defenders en route to the net.

Esa Lindell leveled the score with 1:13 to play in the period when he angled the puck behind Alex Nedeljkovic, who gave up a similar goal in the first period on what was a rare off night.

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Bertuzzi scored at 13:46 of the third period. He had the puck by the left goal post, and banked a shot in off Lindell, who was sprawled in the crease. Rookies Lucas Raymond (23) and Moritz Seider (23) earned the assists.

Gemel Smith, claimed Wednesday off waivers, took part in the morning skate but did not make the game lineup. He had only skated once with his new team, and the roster that took the ice had won two games in a row.

Warm response

Luke Glendening said earlier in the day Friday he'd be happy when the puck dropped, so he could concentrate on the game rather than deal with the emotions of facing his former team for the first time in Detroit. There was a nice tribute video honoring Glendening showed during a timeout in the first intermission, and Glendening — shown on the scoreboard — raised an arm to acknowledge the applause from fans. He played 554 games with the Wings before leaving as a free agent last summer.

Quick response

Ryan Suter — the defenseman the Wings pursued in 2012 after the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom — put the Stars on the scoreboard at 12:03 of the first period. It wasn’t one of Nedeljkovic’s finer moments: Suter fired the puck from the bottom of the left circle, angling it on net. But the Wings punched right back, with Fabbri scoring at 12:26. Bertuzzi caught the puck along the right boards and fired a cross-ice pass that Fabbri settled the puck on his stick, strode to the net and beat Braden Holtby.

Timely response

Joel Kiviranta fired a shot through traffic that beat Nedeljkovic at 5:50 of the second period. It took a little longer this time, but the Wings again found a way to quell the Stars’ momentum. Bertuzzi carried the puck into Dallas’ zone and dropped a blind pass for Suter, who beat Holtby with a shot from the top of the left circle 1:44 after Kiviranta’s goal. It was Suter’s ninth goal of the season and Bertuzzi’s 16th assist.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.