Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Stephen Weiss scored his first goal as a member of the Red Wings late in overtime to lead Detroit to a 3-2 comeback victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Weiss, who signed with Detroit this offseason after 10 years with the Florida Panthers, skated in uncontested and tapped a rebound past Cam Ward at the 3:13 mark of the extra session to lift the Wings to their second win in as many games to begin the season.
"That was a big win, it was a good character win and a good comeback by all the boys in here," said Weiss. "We're happy to get the two points."
Ward was terrific for most of the contest, keeping Detroit off the scoreboard through the first two periods. The net-minder turned away 35 of 38 shots, but Carolina surrendered a 2-1 lead in the final moments of the third period when Henrik Zetterberg beat Ward to knot the score and force overtime.
Justin Abdelkader also scored for Detroit behind Jimmy Howard, who had 23 saves in the win.
Radek Dvorak and Nathan Gerbe notched goals for the Hurricanes while Justin Faulk registered a pair of assists.
Dvorak opened the scoring thanks to a brilliant assist by Jeff Skinner, who received the puck from Faulk near the blue line and passed ahead for a streaking Dvorak. The puck slid just past Kyle Quincy's outstretched stick and the 17-year veteran took advantage, poking the disc past Howard.
Late in the second period and less than a minute after Pavel Datsyuk nearly netted the equalizer for Detroit, Carolina pushed the other way and Gerbe scored his first goal of the season for a 2-0 edge. Datsyuk came up with the loose puck and sprinted towards goal short-handed, but Ward was up to the task, turning away the shot.
The Hurricanes then countered. Faulk floated a shot towards Howard, which deflected off Jay Harrison before landing on Gerbe's stick. Uncontested in front of Howard, Gerbe calmly gathered the puck and buried it in the back of the net.
Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 42 seconds in to the third period when Abdelkader's wrist-shot beat Ward.
Ward turned away shot after shot during a furious Detroit rally late in the action with Howard on the bench. Zetterberg fired off a number of shots around attempts by Datsyuk and Daniel Alfredsson before Zetterberg's rebound with 17 seconds left finally beat Ward for the game-tying goal.
Game Notes
Zetterberg had a game-high 10 shots, as Detroit out-shot Carolina, 38-25 ... The Red Wings went 0-for-3 on power plays ... Howard stopped the final 14 shots he faced ... Dvorak made his Hurricanes' debut after registering 581 points in 1200 games for seven different franchises prior to this season.
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