Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Gustav Nyquist scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings clawed their way back from a three-goal deficit to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 5-4, on Friday.
Nyquist, Detroit's third shooter, veered to the right circle before cutting to the slot and unleashing a wrister over the glove of Cory Schneider into the top right corner of the net. Michael Ryder had a chance to prolong the skills competition, but Petr Mrazek turned aside his offering with a blocker save for the win.
Drew Miller netted the game-tying goal halfway through the third period and Riley Sheahan, Xavier Ouellet and Justin Abdelkader all scored for the Red Wings, who won their third straight game.
"We're a pretty good hockey club when we play with pace," said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. "When we don't play with pace, we're not."
Mrazek made 21 saves plus three more during the shootout in his second start of the season.
Mike Cammalleri scored twice, Jaromir Jagr supplied a goal and an assist and Peter Harrold found the back of the net for the Devils, who have dropped five of their last six games. Schneider turned aside 28 shots in defeat.
"No excuses for us. I think we're ready to not dwell on this, though. We can't dwell on it. We can't start overthinking things," said Cammalleri. "We've got to pull up our socks, man up a bit, wake up tomorrow and go play a big one."
Detroit cut the deficit in half early in the second as Oullet one-timed a shot from in tight for his first NHL goal to make it a 4-2 game.
On the power play, Henrik Zetterberg took a pass from down low and sent the puck to Abdelkader, who made it a one-goal game on a quick shot in front with 7:09 to play in the middle stanza.
Niklas Kronwall rushed in from the point and skated in on net, but had his backhander blocked. Miller was there, however, to deposit the rebound into the back of the net for a 4-4 game midway through the third.
Both netminders made big saves late to send the game into overtime. Mrazek barely got a piece of a Ruutu deflection to keep it a tied game late in the extra session.
New Jersey opened the scoring 2:18 into the game after Jagr whacked home the a rebound in front, but Sheahan re-directed Kronwall's blast for a power-play goal to tie the game 1:32 later.
The Devils reclaimed the lead on Cammalleri's wrister from the top of the left circle past a screened Mrazek at 13:52. Harrold scored his first goal of the season to make it a 3-1 game with 4:42 remaining in the first period, as he took Jagr's neutral-zone feed and sent a wrister over the glove of Mrazek.
Adam Henrique skated up into the slot and sent a cross-ice pass to Damon Severson at the right circle. Cammalleri finished off the play after taking a pass from Severson down low for his second of the night just 28 seconds into the second.
Game Notes
Jagr moved into sole possession of sixth place and surpassed Mike Gartner on the NHL's all-time goals list when he scored his 709th in the first ... Detroit us 11-2-1 in its last 14 games against New Jersey ... It was Detroit's first win in the shootout this season after losing the previous three instances ... Greene played in his 500th NHL game ... Mrazek's other start was a 28-save performance in a 4-3 win over Winnipeg on Nov. 20 ... Devils forwards Travis Zajac (lower body) and Henrique (upper body) left the game in the third and did not return ... Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock tied Glen Sather for 20th all-time with 497 wins ... Detroit also defeated New Jersey, 1-0, on Nov. 7 ... The two teams will conclude the season series at Joe Louis Arena on New Year's Eve.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.