The Red Wings won the road trip but didn’t win Saturday’s game.
They actually lost it in heartbreaking fashion, as Dallas defenseman Nils Lundkvist scored with 31 seconds left in overtime, giving the Stars a 3-2 victory.
The overtime had been fairly quiet on both ends, until the deciding goal. Dylan Larkin lost control of the puck to Mason Marchment, who suddenly found himself on a two-on-one rush and set up Lundkvist for an easy tap-in past goalie Ville Husso, clinching the victory.
The Wings (13-8-6) finished 2-1-1 on the four-game trip, earning five of a possible eight points. Good, for sure, especially after an ugly loss Thursday in Florida, and a good effort against Dallas in all facets.
But not getting that extra point Saturday stings.
“(Saturday) was a good response from the Florida effort, it’s a good team over there,” Larkin told Bally Sports Detroit. “We got it to OT, and we have to manage the puck and get that extra point. The points are there and we haven’t capitalized on them (in overtime). We need to manage it.”
Dallas (16-7-5) won for the 10th consecutive time over the Wings at American Airlines Center, and ninth of 11 meetings overall.
But rebounding from Thursday’s loss, and earning the five points on the trip, made for a respectable week.
“Real good trip,” said David Perron, who played in his 1,000th career game and scored a goal. “We didn’t get the result (Saturday) but a good trip overall.”
BOX SCORE: Stars 3, Red Wings 2, OT
The best story of the day was Perron scoring while playing in his milestone game.
Perron, 34, scored his ninth goal with one minute left in the second period, tying the score 2-2. Ben Chiarot slapped a shot from the high slot that appeared to bounce off goaltender Jake Oettinger’s blocker and Perron’s stick, and into the net.
“Just a lucky bounce,” Perron said. “It kind of gave me more energy, because you deal with a lot of nerves and you have to manage it and calm yourself down. We competed good as a group, and five-on-five as a team, we were real good.”
Larkin opened in the Wings’ scoring with his 11th goal, while goaltender Husso made 30 saves.
“He’s (Husso) been lights out,” Larkin said. “It was a good goalie battle, we had several chances there in the first and Husso stood tall, especially on (the Stars’) power play.”
Denis Gurianov and Jamie Benn (power play) had Dallas goals.
Larkin opened the scoring with his 10th goal at 9:48 of the first period.
Austin Czarnik skated up ice and found Larkin, jumping onto the ice trailing on the play, and Larkin snapped a shot past Oettinger for a 1-0 Wings’ lead.
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan