Kronwall Scores in OT to Lift Red Wings Past Oilers

Defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored 26 seconds into overtime on Friday night, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

Five of Detroit’s last six games have been decided in the extra period, with the team going 3-2 in that set.

After Kronwall gave the puck away to Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins right in front of the Detroit net, he took Nugent-Hopkins down and joined Dylan Larkin on a rush going the opposite way. On a two-on-one against Oscar Klefbom, Larkin fed Kronwall for a snap shot through Klefbom’s legs and past goalie Cam Talbot for the win.

The Red Wings had opened the scoring at 5:11 of the second period, as Gustav Nyquist pounced on a loose puck at the edge of the crease during a scramble and knocked it past Talbot. Tomas Tatar made it 2-0 6:56 later, snapping a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past the Edmonton netminder.

Two quick goals near the end of the period would erase the Detroit lead. Iiro Pakarinen took a feed from Anton Lander and beat Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard from the slot to make it 1-0 with 4:43 left in the second. Just 2:27 later, Andrej Sekara scored a power play goal on a one-timer from the high slot to even things up.

Larkin restored Detroit’s lead with 36 seconds left in the middle frame, racing in on goal off a feed from Henrik Zetterberg and beating Talbot from in close.

Pakarinen tied things back up at 8:45 of the third period, capitalizing on a Detroit turnover to lift a shot past Howard from the left faceoff circle.

Each team had two chances on the power play with Sekara’s tally the only goal scored.

Howard finished the night with 21 saves on 24 shots. Talbot stopped 28 of 32 Detroit chances.

The Red Wings are next in action on Sunday afternoon when they host the Florida Panthers.