Compher breaks tie in 3rd, Red Wings defeat Penguins

DETROIT -- Patrick Kane and J.T. Compher scored power-play goals to help the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

Compher put Detroit ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal at 14:26 of the third period. Erik Gustafsson’s point shot hit the post and Alex Nedeljkovic’s back, then slid toward the line. Compher was the first to react and pushed it in.

Nedeljkovic said he never saw the shot because of Michael Rasmussen’s screen.

“I thought maybe I could get a line of vision on [Rasmussen’s] left and obviously the puck went right,” he said. “I thought I had a chance to find it, but I wasn’t on the right side.”

Compher and Jonatan Berggren each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings (15-18-4), who are 2-1-0 under new coach Todd McLellan. Alex Lyon made 23 saves.

The win was the 600th of McLellan’s NHL career, but he was happier about the two this week.

“Tonight was more about this group than about me,” he said. “There are so many excited guys in there right now -- the whole mood is different than when we started. That means a lot more than 600.”

Drew O'Connor scored both goals for Pittsburgh (17-17-5) -- his first two-goal game since getting the second and third goals of his NHL career in a 7-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 23, 2021.

“I told him before the game that his last game was the best he had played in months,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I said if he continued to play like that, he was going to score, so I was happy that he was able to break through.”

Nedeljkovic made 21 saves against his former team.

“I thought it was a pretty good game,” he said. “We might have been a little slow to start, but it went back and forth. [Lyon] made some good saves at the other end to keep us just far enough away.”

Berggren gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the first period, taking a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko and beating Nedeljkovic on a breakaway.

“I forgot to change, so I was a little bit late,” Berggren said. “[Tarasenko] saw me coming there and made a really good pass, but I was lucky to score.”

O’Connor made it 1-1 at 18:29, one-timing Cody Glass’ pass in off the toe of Lyon’s skate for his first goal in 32 games.

“I just wanted to get open for the one-timer and [Glass] did a good job of holding onto it and waiting for a lane to open up,” O’Connor said. “It was a really patient play, and it was definitely a little bit of relief to see it go in.”

Kane made it 2-1 Detroit with a power-play goal at 3:41 of the second period, beating Nedeljkovic from the right face-off circle off Alex DeBrincat’s pass. It was the 125th goal where Kane or DeBrincat got an assist on the other’s goal.

The Penguins nearly tied the game in the last minute of the second period, but Moritz Seider blocked Anthony Beauvillier’s shot on the goal line with Lyon out of position.

O’Connor got his second of the game to make it 2-2 at 3:18 of the third period. He jammed home a loose puck in the crease for a power-play goal.

After Compher gave Detroit the lead, Dylan Larkin scored into the empty net for the 4-2 final at 19:46.

NOTES: Erik Karlsson left the game in the second period after taking a Larkin wrist shot in the face but returned after the intermission. “He’s fine – he’s just not as handsome,” Sullivan joked. … The Red Wings are 35-24-7-2 on New Year’s Eve and 4-2-1 since moving to Little Caesars Arena.