Athanasiou converts in OT as Red Wings nip Wild
DETROIT -- Andreas Athanasiou scored on a breakaway 1:52 into overtime as the Detroit Red Wings skated to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
Athanasiou took a stretch pass from Gustav Nyquist and deked Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk before sliding the puck into the net.
The Red Wings improved to 4-1-1 in their last six games, while the Wild dropped to 1-7-1 in their last nine.
Trailing 2-1 after two periods, Detroit forged a tie while on the power play just 55 seconds into the third. Nyquist flipped a backhand pass to Tomas Tatar and the latter wristed a shot into the roof of the net on Dubnyk's glove side.
The Wild opened the scoring at 9:43 of the first period. Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser made an ill-advised pinch and Wild center Eric Staal got behind the Red Wings' defense, accepted a feed from Zach Parise and snapped a wrist shot past Jimmy Howard for his team-leading 26th goal of the season.
The tally extended Staal's point streak to four games.
Detroit pulled even with 18.5 seconds left in the opening period. Frans Nielsen won a faceoff in the offensive end and Detroit defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green played catch with the puck at the point before Green drove a low slapshot past Dubnyk.
The Wild reclaimed the lead with 3:46 left in the second period. Wild defenseman Nate Prosser wristed a long shot toward the Detroit net from the blue line. Detroit center Dylan Larkin sought to swat the puck out of the air but only succeeded in deflecting it into his own net.
It was Prosser's first goal in 107 games.
NOTES: Since Jan. 24, Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg is seventh in NHL scoring with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists). ... Zetterberg's next power-play goal will be the 100th of his NHL career. ... Detroit F Frans Nielsen's first-period assist was his 250th in the NHL. ... Red Wings scratches were F Darren Helm (lower body injury) and D Ryan Sproul (knee). ... Wild scratches were D Christian Folin and F Chris Stewart. ... Wild D Ryan Suter has established a career high with nine goals this season. ... The Wild finished 8-17-2 all-time at Joe Louis Arena. ... Wild F Eric Staal has reached the 25-goal plateau for the first time since 2010-11. ... While the Red Wings likely will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1989-90, the Wild have qualified for postseason play for a franchise-record fifth successive season.