RECAP: Extra point slips away from Red Wings, who drop 4-3 overtime decision to Golden Knights

DETROIT -- Playing at Little Caesars Arena for the first time since before the NHL’s Olympic break, the Detroit Red Wings picked up a point but were disappointed in how they let the other slip away in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.

“You got to be able to close games down,” Lucas Raymond said. “Having a 3-1 lead coming into the third, we should be able to do that. We didn’t do it tonight, so we got to be detailed. It’s so tight this time of the year and we know it better than anyone, but every point is a big point.”

Goalie Cam Talbot made 21 saves for Detroit (35-20-7; 77 points), which moved to 18-2-7 in one-goal games this season. As for netminder Adin Hill, he finished with 23 saves to help Vegas (29-19-14; 72 points) end a three-game losing streak.

“We kind of played the first half of the game and then we played the second half,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “First half was excellent. We were excellent, direct, a lot of pucks went to the net, we were able to get some stuff back and maintained some O-zone time. And then in the second half of the game, we started pulling up and playing cross ice too much. They defended well and easier than they had to in the first, and that came back to bite us. A two-goal lead, you can’t sit back. We thought we were going to check our way to the points and it ended up costing us, so better be a lesson learned.”

Reilly Smith scored on the night’s second shot, which was Vegas’ first, just 1:50 into the first period to give them an early 1-0 lead. Pavel Dorofeyev was able to push the puck away from Albert Johansson behind the goal line and along the back wall to Mitch Marner, who passed it out to Smith for a nice short-side finish.

But Detroit quickly regrouped and went into their dressing room at the first intermission with a 3-1 advantage --  that score didn’t budge until there were nine minutes left in regulation.

 “Our starts haven’t been the best all season,” McLellan said. “It was a good start for us, but we just didn’t sustain it.”

Like he did against the Nashville Predators in the finale of their three-game road trip just two days ago, Emmitt Finnie tallied the Red Wings’ first goal of the game. Against the Golden Knights, the 20-year-old forward was in the high slot when he accepted Moritz Seider’s feed and then sniped it behind a screened Hill to tie it 1-1 at 5:58 of the first period.

Simon Edvinsson also assisted on Finnie’s 11th goal of the campaign before he buried a loose puck from the slot to make it 2-1 at 15:15 after Andrew Copp had his stick lifted by Braeden Bowman, which created the opportunity. Alex DeBrincat picked up the secondary helper on Edvinsson’s third goal in his last five contests and eighth on the season.

And just 59 seconds later, DeBrincat snuck a snap shot under Hill’s glove from the top of the slot to double Detroit’s advantage. The assists on DeBrincat’s club-leading 32nd goal of the season went to Raymond and Axel Sandin-Pellikka.

“Finnie’s goal, it was a good screen,” DeBrincat said. “The goalie can’t see it. The other ones are kind of the same thing; there were some bodies in front. I think [our 5-on-5 offense] is a little bit better, but we definitely have more than that.”

Following a scoreless middle frame, the Golden Knights found a way to get back-to-back goals within a 4:59 span in the back half of the third period to force the extra stanza. Ivan Barbashev made it 3-2 at 11:37 before Mitch Marner tied it 3-3 with 3:23 left.

Detroit went on its fourth power play of the night less than a minute later, during which captain Dylan Larkin was cross-checked from behind by Brayden McNabb in front of the net and left the game but returned for overtime.

Overall, the Red Wings went 0-for-4 on the man advantage.

“I thought we lost a little momentum on the power play,” McLellan said. “Our best power play was the last one, where we were desperate because the clock was ticking down. We attacked it like we were desperate. The others, we weren’t, so that took a little wind out of our sails as well.”

At 2:11 of overtime, a power-play goal from Tomas Hertl sent the extra point Vegas' way.

“They were loud and they were ready,” DeBrincat said of being back in front of Hockeytown faithful for the first time in over a month. “It was definitely fun to get back here and hopefully, we give them a little bit better Friday.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will close out its two-game homestand with an Atlantic Division clash versus the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on Larkin's status

"Dylan is sore, I'm sure, and obviously, not very happy with the outcome. He'll get looked at by the training staff right now, I'm sure, and we'll get an update. But, he was able to come back and play, which is a good sign."

DeBrincat on what went sideways for Detroit during the third period

“I think we let our foot off the gas a little bit. Didn’t get enough shots to the net, didn’t get enough O-zone time. Flicking pucks out of the D-zone and just kind of trying to weather the storm, but good teams will make you pay like that. We got to come out in the third and stick to our same game that got us there.”

Raymond on the club’s recent offensive production at 5-on-5

“It’s big in our game. Obviously, we have a good opportunity on the power play to kind of win the game late. So, we got to work on that and, especially, execute. I thought we got some really good looks, but couldn’t finish it. It’s really good that we’re scoring 5-on-5, but we need to get going 5-on-4.”