ANAHEIM, Calif. — The good work the Detroit Red Wings was undermined in a few shifts that forced them to settle for one point.
Their losing streak grew to four games after they blew a late lead and then committed a turnover in overtime that left them settling for a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.
“It’s a tough one to go down there and with a minute left, 30 seconds, they score one and tie it up, and then in overtime we’re all over them and they get a chance and bury it,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “It stings right now.”
Ryan Strome scored after Tyler Bertuzzi turned the puck over behind his own goal line, marring what had been overall a good performance from the Wings.
“I think we put ourselves in position to deserve two points,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “But the way we managed our third, taking four penalties, and even the way we managed our overtime – we had a really good start to our season and we’ve been competitive in this league because we take the risk out of our game. Unfortunately a couple times throughout that third and especially in overtime, we got away from that.”
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Jonatan Berggren’s first NHL goal was the first time since Nov. 5 that the Wings scored first in a game. Michael Rasmussen added a goal with 34.3 seconds to play in the second period. Ville Husso had made 27 saves when John Klingberg scored with 46.2 seconds left in regulation.
The Wings (7-6-3) continue the trip Thursday at the San Jose Sharks and wrap it up Saturday at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Berggren delivers
From his first shift in his NHL debut three games ago, Berggren has been consistent in showing he makes the Wings better. He put them up by a goal just before the halfway point of the first period Tuesday, taking a pass from Filip Hronek and flinging the puck behind John Gibson from just outside the crease, near the goal line.
“It was nice to see, although it was a loss, but Jonatan Berggren got his first NHL goal,” Larkin said.
Berggren, a second-round pick from 2018, picked up an assist in his first game, when he set up Joe Veleno. At L.A., it was Berggren who drew the penalty that led to a power play goal that got the Wings into the game. Berggren was called up to ameliorate the loss of multiple skilled forwards, but even as Bertuzzi, for one, returned, Berggren has stayed in the lineup.
Penalty killers tested
Husso robbed Mason McTavish on what was a golden chance from the right circle while Oskar Sundqvist was in the penalty box for cross checking (earlier that shift, Sundqvist had a great chance to put the Wings up by two, but McTavish was quick with a shot from the slot when he got another chance. The penalty killers did better when Rasmussen was called for tripping early in the second period, getting in lanes and blocking shots so that Husso only had to make one save.
The PK group was really tested midway through the third period when Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond took penalties, setting up a 59-second two-man advantage for the Ducks. Dylan Larkin, Ben Chiarot and Filip Hronek did so good a job Husso didn’t even have to make a save. Raymond went to the box again a few minutes later, when he used his stick to slow Jakob Silfverberg and ended up losing the stick when Silfverberg, trying to clear the puck, ended up sending Raymond’s stick over the glass and into the stands.
“I thought for most of the game, our effort was excellent,” Lalonde said. “We put ourselves in position but we get out of rhythm. Four penalties, and they were pretty bad penalties. They were all legit penalties. A couple retaliation penalties, a penalty 200 feet from our net, and it just took us out of our game. We had a good flow to our game through two periods and unfortunately we didn’t manage our third very well.”
Sky high
Sundqvist and Rasmussen (Elmer Söderblom, the third member of the Skyline, is nursing an undisclosed injury) amended for their penalties by putting the Wings up by a goal in the last minute of the second period. It started with Sundqvist winning a faceoff against Max Jones in the right circle in Anaheim’s zone and getting the puck to David Perron. Perron found Rasmussen, who strode around the back of the net, out front and scored his second goal of the season.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.