Red Wings beat Islanders on late goal
DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings started slowly but they finished with a bang.
A point shot by Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser pinballed off the legs of New York Islanders defensemen Nick Leddy and Thomas Hickey and into the net with 27.9 seconds left in regulation time, giving the Red Wings a 5-4 victory Friday.
It was DeKeyser's first goal in 21 games, since he scored the overtime winner at New York against the Islanders in a 4-3 win on Dec 4.
Islanders forward Jason Chimera, playing his 1,000th NHL game, pounced on a turnover by Detroit forward Darren Helm and chipped the puck between the post and the pad of Wings goalie Petr Mrazek with 2:26 left in third period to tie the game.
The Red Wings surrendered the first goal for the 31st time in 51 games.
Mike Green fanned on a point shot, allowing Islanders forward Anders Lee to push the puck past the defenseman and set up a three-on-two break. Holding off Green with one arm, Lee slid a one-handed pass to Tavares as they entered the zone and the captain sent the puck to Josh Bailey, who wired a blast high into the net behind Mrazek at 3:43 of the first period.
Detroit's Luke Glendening forged a tie at 10:07. Glendening got the blade of his stick on Jonathan Ericsson's point shot and then the puck banked off the right skate of Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk and past goalie Thomas Greiss. It was Glendening's first goal since Nov. 4 at Winnipeg, ending a 38-game drought.
Andrew Ladd restored New York's lead at 11:39 when his shot from just inside the blueline eluded Mrazek's grasp on the stick side. It was Ladd's 12th career goal against the Red Wings.
Detroit tied it again at 12:04 of the second period. Darren Helm one-timed a Tomas Tatar cross-ice feed past Greiss on the glove side.
Just 2:20 later, Detroit secured its first lead. Tatar wristed the puck cross-crease to Anthony Mantha and he hammered home his 12th goal of the season and first in 11 games.
The Isles pulled even at 17:11 when John Tavares put a sharp-angle shot high over a sprawling Mrazek during a New York power play.
Just 21 seconds later, Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg rifled a wrist shot by Greiss and the Red Wings carried a 4-3 lead into the third period.
NOTES: The Red Wings placed D Alexey Marchenko on waivers Friday. When he is either claimed by another NHL team or clears and is assigned to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League after Saturday's noon deadline, Detroit will activate D Brendan Smith (knee) from injured reserve. He is expected to play Saturday in Nashville. ... Detroit G Jimmy Howard (knee, IRL) will begin a two-game injury rehab stint with Grand Rapids on Saturday. ... The Islanders have played an NHL-low 20 road games. ... Islanders F Jason Chimera played his 1,000th NHL game Friday. ... Islanders scratches were Fs Shane Prince and Stephen Gionta and D Scott Mayfield. D Travis Hamonic (lower body) is on IRL. ... Red Wings scratches were F Tomas Jurco and D Ryan Sproul. F Steve Ott (shoulder) is also on IRL.