DETROIT (AP) - It was difficult to tell in the dressing room if the Detroit Red Wings were especially excited or simply relieved.
Frans Nielsen scored his NHL-record 22nd shootout winner and the Red Wings edged the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 on Tuesday night to end a 10-game losing streak - their longest since 1977.
“Obviously, everyone was frustrated,” goalie Jimmy Howard said. “A lot of us have never gone through that in this dressing room. It was one of those things that just sort of snowballed.
“I’m glad we were just able to find a way to get a W today.”
Dylan Larkin scored twice, Luke Glendending had a goal and Evgeny Svechnikov got his first in the NHL for the Red Wings. Howard made 27 saves through overtime and stopped all three attempts he faced in the shootout.
Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Shayne Gostisbehere and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers.
The win didn’t come without some anxious moments for the Red Wings. They squandered 3-1 and 4-3 leads in the third period, and were forced to kill off a penalty to Danny DeKeyser that was assessed late in the third and carried into overtime.
“I though the third period was exemplary of what happens when you haven’t won,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “You don’t have the confidence that you do when you win.
“I thought our gaps got real soft, we laid back too much. Good for our guys to stay with it. I thought we had lots of chances in overtime after their power play.”
Larkin gave Detroit a 1-0 lead 6:08 into the second period, whipping a wrist shot past ex-Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek on the stick side.
Glendening made it 2-0 just 1:51 later when he got loose down the right wing while killing a penalty and snapped a high wrist shot over the glove-side shoulder of Mrazek.
Before the power play was up, the Flyers got one back. Claude Giroux’s shot hit the post, but Couturier slammed in the rebound for his 30th of the season.
The Red Wings restored their two-goal advantage at 9:57. Svechnikov corralled a loose puck and zipped it by Mrazek, who was then replaced by Alex Lyon. Mrazek stopped 16 of 19 shots before Lyon made 11 saves in relief.
It was Mrazek’s first appearance in Detroit since the Feb. 19 trade that sent him to Philadelphia.
“Not the way I wanted to end the game,” Mrazek said. “I should have had that second goal.
“We gave them momentum. We gave them three goals in the second period.”
Read pulled the Flyers back within one when his shot found its way past Howard through traffic 7:46 into the third. Gostisbehere tied it on a Philadelphia power play at 9:40, wiring a wrist shot over Howard’s glove-side shoulder.
Larkin’s quick shot from the slot put Detroit back in front at 14:06, but just 28 seconds later Konecny tied it when his shot crossed the goal line a split second before the net was dislodged.
“The second period was God-awful for us,” Gostisbehere said. “We were OK in the first, but we were terrible in the second.
“We knew they had lost 10 in a row, so they were going to be fragile. If we could get one in the third, we had a good chance of getting a couple more, but we can’t show up in the third period and expect to win a game.”
NOTES: Glendening’s goal was Detroit’s eighth short-handed this season and the 10th given up by Philadelphia. … Flyers LW Michael Raffl (lower body) missed his first game of the season. .. With three assists, Giroux moved past Eric Lindros (659 points) into fifth place on the Flyers’ career scoring list.
UP NEXT
Predators: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Red Wings: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
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