DETROIT (AP) - Anthony Mantha did not play a great game. He did make the big play.
Mantha scored with 30.9 seconds left to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 comeback victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night.
He had a few short shifts in the second half of the third period.
“I don’t think I played the best game of the season but got out there and got the game winner,” Mantha said. “My team gets the two points and that’s what matters.”
Mantha broke in alone off the right wing after taking a pass off the boards from Robby Fabbri, then beat goalie Malcolm Subban with a wrist shot from the right circle. Mantha has 11 goals this season.
“I mean my passing was not on point today,” he said. “So, I was shooting that 100 percent and just found the outside post and in.”
Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Madison Bowey also scored and Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves to help the Red Wings win their second straight game.
Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty scored for Vegas and Subban stopped 16 shots. The Golden Knights are 1-2-3 in their last six.
“We played 55 great minutes of hockey and then fell asleep for the last five,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Galant said. “Even before they scored, they had at least three good chances that we had just given them.”
Bowey tied it at 2 with 9:03 left in the third period, scoring from the inside portion of the right circle while being hauled down by William Carrier. It was Bowey’s first goal of the season.
Pacioretty gave Vegas a 2-1 lead 9:04 into the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. It was his sixth goal. It was one of only five total shots in a close-checking middle period. Vegas had three and the Red Wings two.
Marchessault gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead with 3:33 left in the first period. He converted Reilly Smith’s cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1 rush. It was Marchessault’s fourth goal.
Athanasiou tied it with a power-play goal with 45 seconds left in the opening period. He scored on a one-time shot from the right circle. It was his second goal.
NOTE: Vegas completed a four-game trip. The Knights lost 5-2 to Washington on Saturday night. … Detroit rookie LW Taro Hirose was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
NEXT UP:
Golden Knights: Host Chicago on Wednesday night.
Red Wings: At Anaheim on Tuesday night.
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