RECAP: Red Wings not lacking in effort despite 5-3 loss at Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Frustration has obviously built over the course of the past week, but following Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena, Moritz Seider stressed the Detroit Red Wings put forth an improved effort they can build upon moving forward.

“I think that one really stings,” Seider said about the Red Wings’ fifth consecutive loss. “Such a great effort by everyone today. We came out with a really good game plan against a really good team that loaded up at the deadline even more, and we showed character. I think that was the best game in the losing streak so far and obviously, it’s just a bummer coming out of here with nothing.”

Goalie James Reimer made 31 saves in his first start for Detroit (33-25-6; 72 points) since Feb. 25, while netminder Adin Hill's 23-save night helped Vegas (34-23-7; 75 points) snap a four-game losing streak.

"We were fighting all night," David Perron said. "Obviously, not an easy back-to-back. But with the performance we put up yesterday, we wanted to come out and definitely fight for each other out there. I thought we did that and stayed in the game all night."

Pavel Dorofeyev’s shot from the high slot went five-hole on Reimer at 9:07 of the first period, kicking off the scoring to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. Jonathan Marchessault doubled it to 2-0 at 14:34 when he converted on a pass across the slot from Jack Eichel on a 2-on-1 rush.

With 29 seconds remaining in the first period, Michael Rasmussen scored his 13th goal of the season to cut the Red Wings’ deficit to 2-1. Seider got the primary assist, firing a shot from the point that Rasmussen tipped past Hill. Perron, who spent the 2017-18 campaign with the Golden Knights, picked up the secondary helper on the play.

"The first period, they outshot us (19-7) pretty good," Perron said. "Ras finds a way to get a stick on the puck, he kind of gives us momentum from that point on."

After a scoreless middle stanza, Detroit tied the score 2-2 on J.T. Compher’s deflection goal on the power play at 2:44 of the third period. Compher, who was assisted by Seider and Andrew Copp, scored his 16th goal of the season.

The Golden Knights and Red Wings exchanged goals just 37 seconds apart just past the halfway mark of the third period. Brayden McNabb first pushed Vegas ahead 3-2 on a wrist shot that went bar down at 10:07 before Shayne Gostisbehere tied it at 10:44 with a backhand goal from the left face-off circle to make it 3-3.

Assisted by Rasmussen and Perron, Gostisbehere has 10 goals this season. He is the 13th Red Wings player to score at least 10 goals in 2023-24.

Marchessault's second goal of the night put Vegas back on top, 4-3, with 2:44 remaining in the third. He completed the hat trick at 18:53, lightning the lamp with an empty-netter for the 5-3 final.

Rasmussen (undisclosed) exited the third period after getting hit by a puck and did not return.

"Frustrating, but we got to continue just to get hungry," Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. "We can't get frustrated with it. Pretty much from the second period on in Arizona, I've loved the team's effort. So that's five periods where I think we've sustained a pretty good effort. If we can do that, I think we're going to have some success moving forward."

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will conclude their four-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday night.

QUOTABLE 

Lalonde on his assessment of Saturday's loss

"I didn't hate our first (period). Unfortunately, we had a really good start. We didn't get a couple pucks on net, some backdoor tap-in looks, some open nets and then probably a bad goal and a power play changed the entire period momentum-wise, but we got through it. Didn't mind our second, then our third obviously was really good from the guys."

Seider on what Detroit must carry over to Tuesday's game in Buffalo

“Two points, that’s all that matters. I think that’s as easy as it gets. No one cares how we’re going to end up winning, but I think we just got to get it done here.”

Seider on continuing to create opportunities on offense

“I think we know there’s a lot of belief in this locker room that we’ll score. It’s just a matter of time until we get the win, but I think obviously, we want to keep the puck away from our net. I think we got to do that a little bit more.”

Seider on what positives Detroit can take away from Saturday's game

“Our PK came out strong, we were struggling before. Our power play scored. Overall, 5-on-5, I think we were more gritty…We figured out when to chip the puck in and when not. We made it hard on a really good team, but it just wasn’t good enough.”

Perron on missed chances

"It's frustrating, for sure. You want to find a way. You don't want to talk about efforts like this. You want to get points. Again, we got to move on. We got a day off tomorrow, get back to work on Monday and be ready for the next game, for sure."