There was applause for an early penalty kick, then louder applause for the NHL’s first rising star defenseman’s goal.
The Detroit Red Wings, playing at Little Caesars Arena for the fourth time in five games, started well but faced little resistance when… Tampa Bay Lightning He was pressed towards the end, forcing the match to take place on Friday, October 17, as per the previous regulations. Dylan Larkin scored a goal in extra time to seal a 2-1 win, bringing the winning streak to four games.
The Wings were missing Lucas Raymond (upper body injury) and lightning bolt Nikita Kucherov (illness). Gibson, making his first start since being pulled on opening night, didn’t have much to do in the first period, but he was busy in the third as the Lightning pushed to erase a one-goal deficit, going on an 11-2 advantage in shots in the first period.
Gibson lasted until 3:43 remained — as the Bolts outscored the Wings 17-3 in just the third period — before giving up a goal to JJ Moser. The shots at the end of regulation were in favor of Tampa Bay, 31-28.
It was Axel Sandin Bjelica, drafted 17th overall in 2023, who made it 1-0. The 20-year-old showed in camp how good he is with the puck, and he showed it against the Lightning when he took a pass from Dylan Larkin and carried the puck to the high slot. He fired a shot that went through the legs of a jumping James van Riemsdyk, hit Brandon Hagel and went past Andrei Vasilevskiy at 13:02 of the first period.
That was less than a minute after the Bolts scored their first shot on Gibson. It was on a power play near the middle of the period (with shots going to the Wings, 7-0) that the Wings’ penalty takers were so effective that they had possession of the puck the entire time.
While their penalty takers improved to three-for-three during the second period, the Wings, who had converted chances in each of the first four matches, had difficulty creating a threat with the advantage of having players either struggling to set up or get shots on Vasilevskiy. They were better at even strength, with a 22-11 lead in shots after two periods.
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This article originally appeared on the Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings goal in 2-1 overtime win over Tampa Bay Lightning