Walman scores in OT to lift Red Wings past Penguins, 5-4

PITTSBURGH -- — Jake Walman scored at 2:13 of overtime and the Detroit Red Wings overcame an early four-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Walman, off the rush, tipped a rebound behind goaltender Casey DeSmith for his second goal of the season. He then hit the Griddy in the corner with his teammates as the Red Wings danced and celebrated a big comeback win.

“I was lagging a little bit at the beginning, but I was able to get the full Griddy,” Walman said.

Pittsburgh was coming a 5-1 road loss to the New York Islanders less than 24 hours earlier, while Detroit played its first game since Dec. 21.

The Penguins started strong with four goals on 12 first-period shots, but they couldn’t hang onto their early lead.

“We just didn’t play the game the right way,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t manage the game, we didn’t manage the puck, we’re not playing a collective game right now.”

Dylan Larkin started the Detroit comeback in the second period with a power-play goal, and David Perron completed it with his third goal in three games. Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren also scored to help the Red Wings win consecutive games following a six-game losing streak.

Magnus Hellberg relieved Ville Husso in the second period and made 19 saves. Husso stopped eight shots in the first period.

“We weren’t awful,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “We weren’t 4-0 bad. We had some missed opportunities in the first period and unfortunately, it put us in a big hole.”

Jason Zucker scored twice, Jeff Carter added a goal and an assist and Drew O’Connor scored his first of the season for the Penguins. They have lost three straight and four of five following a seven-game winning streak.

DeSmith made a season-high 41 saves.

Detroit trailed 4-2 entering the third period and Berggren made it a one-goal game with five minutes to play. Perron scored his 12th of the season, a power-play goal with 3:08 remaining from the left side to tie it.

“It was an accumulation of good work,” Walman said. “After that second and third, I think we deserved at least that point.”

The Penguins scored two power-play goals against Detroit. They have now scored with the man advantage in 11 of their last 12 games. Pittsburgh has 16 power-play goals in the last 12 games.

O’Connor opened the scoring for Pittsburgh 2:36 into the game and Carter added to the lead at 10:15 with one of the Penguins’ two power-play goals.

Zucker scored his seventh of the season at 14:15 of the first period and added a power-play goal with 31.2 seconds to play. On Zucker’s second goal, Carter became the 100th player in NHL history – and sixth from the 2003 draft class – to collect 400 goals and 400 assists.

Larkin gave the Red Wings life with his 13th of the season at 7:17 of the second period. Veleno continued a four-game point streak and cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half at 14:32 of the second.

Then, Walman and the Red Wings finished their comeback in the third period and overtime.

“It was a great game and I think the boys showed a lot of resilience,” Walman said. “We knew it wasn’t good enough after the first period and we dialed it in after that.”

UP NEXT

Red Wings: At Buffalo on Thursday night.

Penguins: Host New Jersey on Friday night.

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