Mantha scores with 31 seconds left, Red Wings defeat Golden Knights

DETROIT -- Anthony Mantha scored with 31 seconds left in the third period, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied for a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.

Mantha took Robby Fabbri's pass off the boards and broke in alone before beating Malcolm Subban with a wrist shot for his 11th goal.
"It was a great cross-ice pass from Fabbri]," Mantha said. "My passing had been off all night, so I was definitely going to shoot it. It found the post and went in."
***[WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Red Wings highlights]*
Madison Bowey scored midway through the third period to tie the game for Detroit (6-12-1), which has won consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the season.
"I don't think we were nearly sharp enough," coach Jeff Blashill said of the Red Wings, who didn't get their 10th shot on goal until the third period. "I thought we've had some losses where we deserved to win. Tonight, we might not have deserved to lose, but we didn't play our best and found a way to win."

Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves for Detroit, including one against Reilly Smith right in front of the crease with 14 seconds remaining.
"It wasn't a perfect game, I don't think, and our effort wasn't there for the full 60 minutes. But we'll take the win," Bernier said. "We've just got to keep riding this wave."
Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty scored for Vegas (9-7-3), which is winless in three straight games and 1-2-3 in its past six. Subban made 16 saves.
"We played great hockey for 55 minutes and fell asleep for the last five," coach Gerard Gallant said. "They had three good chances before Mantha scored, and they were all chances we gave them."
Marchessault gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead on a 2-on-1 with Smith at 16:27 of the first period.

Andreas Athanasiou tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 19:15 of the first.
Pacioretty put a wrist shot past Bernier from the top of the right face-off circle at 9:04 of the second period to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Knights outshot the Red Wings 3-2 in the second period.
"We have to still try to create offense and make them defend," Pacioretty said. "We can't forget about our end, but we have to play aggressive hockey. That just hasn't been there lately."

Bowey tied it 2-2 at 10:57 of the third while falling to the ice. It was his first goal of the season.
"Fabbri was open at the back door, so I was thinking about either passing or shooting," Bowey said. "As I got tripped, I just decided to put it on the net. I heard it hit a pad, but I didn't know if it was the one in the back of the net or the goalie's pad. I wasn't sure what happened until all the guys jumped on me."

They said it

"You have to use your head in a tie game. We started trying to break up every play in the neutral zone and made mistakes that we had no business making. Even when they tied the game, we were still playing well and controlling the game, but we stopped doing it in the last five minutes. We gave them at least two breakaways in the last three minutes, and you can't do that." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant
"I always say this: The League is so close that the difference in talent between the top teams and a team near the bottom like us is minimal. Every night, you know that if you go out and play your best game, you are going to have a chance to win. We've just to keep building our confidence to do that on a regular basis, and these two games will help." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

Need to know

The 38 shots on goal (19 for each team) were the fewest in Golden Knights history; they combined with the New York Islanders for 42 shots on Dec. 12, 2018. … Pacioretty has four goals in his past five games. … Vegas will play five of its next six games at home; Detroit opens a three-game California trip on Tuesday. … Blashill juggled his lines throughout the third period, which led to Fabbri and Mantha teaming up for the winning goal on their first even-strength shift together in the game.

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN)
Red Wings: At the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; PRIME, FS-D+, NHL.TV)