Detroit —- There was no giving up late barrages of goals this time for the Red Wings.
They played solid defense all evening and in overtime, Jordan Oesterle scored his first goal as a Red Wing, giving the Wings a 2-1 victory over Anaheim at Little Caesars Arena.
Oesterle gathered a puck off a a faceoff victory by Dylan Larkin, and snapped a shot from the slot that flew past Ducks goaltender John Gibson at 2 minutes, 11 seconds of overtime.
“It was pretty surreal,” said Oesterle (Dearborn Heights/Dearborn Divine Child) of his game-winner. “I didn’t know when I’d get my first one (goal), but to have it on home ice and have family and friends in the building, it means a lot.”
Oesterle’s parents, wife and two cousins were at the game Monday, and he estimates there’s usually at least five family members at each game. Signed as an unrestricted free agent last summer, Oesterle has been in and out of the lineup.
But he’s enjoying being back home and playing for his hometown team.
“It’s been awesome, surreal, I have to pinch myself every day that I’m still in Michigan and playing for the team that I grew up watching,” Oesterle said. “I’m pretty lucky.”
Coach Jeff Blashill has been impressed with the way Oesterle has maintained confidence though not getting regular playing time.
BOX SCORE: Red Wings 2, Ducks 1 (OT)
“It’s a pretty cool moment, I’m sure for him,” said Blashill of the game-winning goal. “He’s not new to the NHL but being a Detroit kid and scoring in overtime, being a overtime winner, that’s awesome.
“He’s played good when he’s gone in. It’ a challenge for a guy who goes in and out sometimes, but he’s done a real good job.”
The Wings limited Anaheim to 15 shots in the game. They outshot Anaheim 28-15 and allowed few quality scoring chances. The Wings moved back to .500 with the victory (20-20-6).
“The first period (Monday) was the way we have to play,” Blashill said. “We managed the puck good, got pucks behind them, we defended well. We have to be keep doing it that consistently.”
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Blashill was also pleased with the way the Wings responded from the meltdown against Toronto, using it as a learning tool.
“One of the things we’ve gone through lots is a lot o frustrating time over the last number of years, and certainly that was one of them,” Blashill said. “As frustrating as it was, and Sunday was hard day (reflecting), but you can’t go back and change the result. But you can get better from it.
“We had a meeting (Monday) and our guys all took it as a learning meeting and we went out and applied a lot of it and did a better job. We have to continue to learn and get better and in the process, do the right things as consistently as possible to win games.”
The Wings appeared to break the tie at 16:11 of the third period on an apparent Filip Hronek goal.
But video determined Hronek kicked the puck in while skating through the slot over Gibson, and the goal was taken off the board.
“It was probably a 50-50 call that went against us,” Blashill said.
Larkin scored his 23rd goal for the Wings to open the scoring in the first period, while Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell tied it 1-1 in the second period with his 10th goal.
Larkin’s goal was another of his jaw-dropping ones in recent games.
Filip Zadina got the puck in the middle of the ice and found Larkin skating with speed down the wing. Larkin sped around defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, drove to the net, and backhanded a shot bar down past Gibson at 19:23.
“Dylan has done a real good job of skating with the puck and being strong on the puck, and making less hope plays and more plays when he sees them,” Blashill said.
“When he doesn’t (see plays), he holds on to it and uses his skating to create space. When he does that, he’s a real effective player. He’s had pretty good confidence all season and he’s seeing the ice real well.”
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic’s best stop early was turning aside Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills) on a one-timer in the low circle in the second period.
But shortly after, Rakell tied it with his 10th goal.
Oesterle sent an errant pass into the neutral zone that was intercepted by Adam Henrique. The Ducks started the rush the other way, and Henrique found Rakell, who whipped a shot past Nedeljkovic at 2:29 of the second period.
“You want to redeem yourself and erase the mistake and luckily I was able to,” Oesterle said.
The Wings had a golden opportunity to break the tie late in the period when Joe Veleno was alone on the side of the crease, but failed to slam a post-to-post pass from Bertuzzi sending the puck wide.
The Wings lost defenseman Nick Leddy to an upper body injury after the second period. Leddy didn’t return to the game, and Blashill had no further update for his availability.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan