RECAP: Red Wings 'could have folded the tents' but 'fought until the bitter end' to pull off 4-2 comeback win over Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Rallying twice from one-goal deficits, the Detroit Red Wings secured a sweep of the season series against the New York Islanders with a 4-2 win at UBS Arena on Monday night.

Goalie Alex Lyon made 28 saves and came up big several times in the game's final minutes for the Red Wings (9-10-2; 20 points), who have allowed two goals or less in each of their last three contests. Netminder Semyon Varlamov made 17 saves for the Islanders (8-9-5; 21 points), who were swept by Detroit in a three-game season series for the first time since 1988-89.

"The message to the guys after was just to keep working at rounding out our game and getting our game in order, because this group has shown some battle and some fight," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. "A positive and again, I thought through 40 minutes we did some pretty good things."

Detroit generated some offensive-zone pressure shortly after puck drop, but New York struck first when captain Anders Lee one-timed a pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the left face-off circle for a 1-0 lead at 4:35 of the first period.

Erasing the early deficit, Moritz Seider answered right back for the Red Wings when he unloaded Andrew Copp’s below-the-goal-line feed past Varlamov to tie it 1-1 at 13:25 of the first period. The secondary assist on Seider’s second goal of the season went to Christian Fischer.

Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 7:42 of the second period. A shot from Isaiah George was deflected by Brock Nelson then stopped by Lyon, but the rebound went right to Palmieri on the backdoor.

Assisted by Justin Holl and Albert Johansson, captain Dylan Larkin scored an impressive spin-o-rama goal while falling at the top of the crease to tie it for Detroit 2-2 at 11:20 of the third period. Larkin extended his point streak to five straight games, a stretch which he’s collected three goals and three assists.

For Johansson, picking up his first career NHL point with the secondary helper on Larkin’s game-tying goal was a special moment.

"It wasn't the prettiest one, but it counts," Johansson said. "Of course it's fun to get an apple there on that goal."

Just 2:33 after Larkin netted his team-leading 12th goal of the season, the Red Wings went ahead 3-2 when Lucas Raymond deflected in a point shot from Simon Edvinsson. Seider had the secondary assist on Raymond’s fifth tally of the campaign, which also pushed the Swedish forward’s goal streak to three consecutive games and point streak to four.

"You need a top line if you're going to be good in this league," Lalonde said. "You need go-to guys if you're going to have success in this league, and [Larkin and Raymond] have been doing it of late."

The Islanders pulled Varlamov for the extra attacker at 17:11 of the third period, but Lyon and the Red Wings defended their one-goal lead before Edvinsson sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with three seconds remaining. Monday was Edvinsson's first career NHL multi-point game.

"Just got to give a lot of credit to the guys," Lyon said. "Obviously we could have folded the tents there, and we fought until the bitter end and scored two big ones at the end. It feels good. It's going to be nice to have a happy plane, but we can't be satisfied. We have to continue to push, so we got to get ready for Wednesday."

NEXT UP: Detroit will entertain the Calgary Flames for the annual Thanksgiving Eve game at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Lalonde on Johansson's first career NHL point

"He's growing, and I hope it builds some confidence in him. He's had his ups and downs, which is understandable from a young D-man. But from what I saw last year, even through camp, I think he's got a little more in his game."

Lalonde on rhe play of Detroit's penalty kill on Monday

"It's been good. I do think we got a little more assertive on it, a little adjustment with some of the structure on it. I like that we've slotted some personnel on it, and it's been good. Unfortunately in the Boston game, we got some bad luck there and had a puck wide go off a shin pad, but we needed it. There's going to be times when you're not going to have your power play. My experience in this league, you don't need your power play all the time to be successful, but if you don't have your penalty kill, you have no chance."

Lyon on what was going through his mind late in the game

"Honestly, just tried to treat it as practice and get better being in those critical moments. I think as a team, going throughout the year, you have to be comfortable in those situations. I just try to treat it as a learning experience and stay in the moment as best I can. Tonight it worked out. It was a fun game."

Lyon on if Detroit needs to play with a desperate style more often

"I think that we're in desperation mode, for sure. I think that we need to play desperate every night, and the best teams in this league play desperate every night. Even if you're not desperate, you have to find a way to play desperate. It's good. It's fun to play that way. It's a grind, but it's just kind of where we're at. We just need to continue to push really hard and not let our foot off the gas."

Johansson on the message ahead of the third period

"We played these guys two games ago, and we were in the same situation: down one goal going into the third. We were just staying positive and kept pushing because we know we're a good team. We're just trying to go out there and keep going."