Recap: Red Wings grab point, but fall short to Panthers in OT, 3-2

DETROIT --Aleksander Barkov scored two goals, including the game-winner with just over 90 seconds remaining in overtime, leading the unbeaten Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings settled for a point in front of a raucous crowd, the second team to tally a point against Florida this season.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic turned in a standout performance with 29 saves, many of which were of the acrobatic variety. The Red Wings blocked 21 shots to aid in the defensive effort.
Detroit (4-2-2) will begin a four-game road trip on Saturday night in Toronto. The Panthers (8-0-0) will travel to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

The energy at Little Caesars Arena was high, especially during the third period, and Detroit played one of its most complete games of the season against the top team in the NHL.

But Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill wasn't pointing to a moral victory when immediately reacting to the result.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't get two [points]. We were in a spot, obviously, where we could have got two," Blashill said. "I thought in the second, we started playing better hockey. They've got a great stretch game. They move up the ice great, so if you give them time and space, they've got excellent offensive attack.
"I thought as the game went on, we had better pressure, their stretch game wasn't as effective, and I wouldn't say by any stretch the game turned, it just went back and forth. I thought we had some good penalty kills, two good penalty kills, but we want to find a way to get two [points]."

Off the faceoff at the 11:17 mark of the first period, Eetu Luostarinen put the Panthers up 1-0 after scoring his second goal of the season. He received the puck between the blue line and both faceoff circles, and with a clean look at the goal, threw a shot on net that snuck past Nedeljkovic.
Florida extended its lead to 2-0 just seconds after a Red Wings power play wrapped up with 1:11 remaining in the frame. Following a wraparound attempt by Anthony DuClair, Barkov shoved the puck past Nedeljkovic as he was trying to secure possession under his knee pads. Michael Rasmussen drew another penalty at the 19:12 mark, giving the Red Wings a power play to begin the second period.
Florida killed the penalty, but Detroit got on the board just 2:15 into the second period to make the score 2-1. Troy Stecher wristed a shot from just outside the right circle that was deflected into the back of the net by Sam Gagner, marking his second goal of the season. Mitchell Stephens also tallied an assist after winning the preceding faceoff.

The score remained at 2-1 for the rest of the period. Florida headed into the decisive third period with a 24-18 edge on shots.
After a frenzied stretch in the final six minutes of the final frame in which Nedeljkovic turned aside several high-level scoring chances, the Red Wings tied the game, 2-2, on Pius Suter's first goal of the season with 2:41 remaining.
From nearly mid-ice, Moritz Seider fired a shot toward the goal that Suter tipped in mid-air past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The Red Wings played solid defense down the stretch to force their second straight overtime game, and the third of the season.

"The crowd was awesome tonight," Nedeljkovic said. "Guys were sacrificing their bodies - I think there were three big blocks - I don't know who it was, but whoever it was in the slot blocked one, went down, you could tell he was hurting, and gets right back up and eats another one right in the shin again, like five seconds later.
"It's just awesome to see, and the crowd feeds off it, and we feed off the crowd. I think that really kinda drove us there. We had some momentum, we had a little bit of a shift in their end, getting that tying goal. The crowd helped for sure."
Barkov officially ended the game with 1:31 remaining in the extra session after capitalizing on a rush and a nifty pass from Jonathan Huberdeau.
Saturday's puck drop from Toronto is set for 7 p.m. on Bally Sports Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network.