Tatar's first hat trick lifts Red Wings over Ducks
DETROIT -- Tomas Tatar scored three goals for his first career hat trick to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 6-4 come-from-behind win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) after trailing 3-1 in the second period.
Defenseman Xavier Ouellet had a goal and an assist and Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen also scored for Detroit, which scored its most goals in a game this season. Thomas Vanek had two assists and Petr Mrazek stopped 21 shots.
The Red Wings came into the game last in goals-per-game in the NHL.
Rickard Rakell had two goals, defensemen Shea Theodore and Cam Fowler scored for Anaheim. Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves before being replaced by John Gibson after two periods. Gibson stopped nine shots.
Nielsen restored the Red Wings lead to 6-4 with 9:27 left in the third period. He put in a rebound for his seventh goal.
Rakell cut the lead to 5-4 at 6:35 into the third with his second goal of the game. He capitalized on a turnover by Detroit defenseman Dan DeKeyser for Rakell's 14th goal.
Tatar completed his hat trick 4:51 into the third period to give the Red Wings a 5-3 lead. In alone on Gibson, Tatar made a couple of moves and put a forehand shot over Gibson. It was Tatar's seventh goal.
The Red Wings led 4-3 going into the third period after scoring three consecutive goals in the second.
Fowler gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead 5:16 into the second period with his eighth goal of the season.
Tatar's second goal of the game made it 3-2 at 7:14 of the second. His shot from the right circle off the rush went off Fowler's skate, off the backboards and deflected into the net off Bernier and the goal post. It was Tatar's sixth goal.
Mrazek made a big save on Corey Perry's tip attempt with 8:15 left in the middle period and 23 seconds later, Larkin tied the game 3-3. A loose puck deflected off Larkin's skate for his 10th goal.
The goal survived a review from the NHL Situation Room in Toronto to insure the Larkin did not kick the puck in and a challenge from Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle that Larkin interfered with Bernier. The sequence of review and challenge took more than six minutes.
Ouellet gave Detroit a 4-3 lead with 2:08 left in the period with his first goal of the season. His one-time shot from the high slot slipped through Bernier.
Two power-play goals gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Rakell got his 13th goal at 3:41 and Theodore made it 2-0 with 9:43 left in the opening period. It was Theodore's first goal of the season.
Tatar got his first goal of the game with 6:27 left in the first.
NOTES: Anaheim G Jonathan Bernier started back-to-back games for the first time this season. He was in goal for Anaheim's 4-3 victory at Boston on Thursday. ... G Petr Mrazek started for Detroit after Jimmy Howard started the past three games. ... The Ducks were without C Nate Thompson (Achilles), D Simon Despres (concussion) and D Clayton Stoner (lower body) because of injuries. ... Injured for the Red Wings were C Darren Helm (upper body), D Brendan Smith (lower body), F Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), LW Justin Abdelkader (lower body) and D Alexey Marchenko (shoulder). ... Anaheim assistant coach Paul MacLean is a former Detroit player and assistant coach.