| Special to The Detroit News
Detroit — Simon Edvinsson scored with 3:14 left in overtime Sunday night to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena.
It was Edvinsson’s fifth goal of the season on a night he came up big at both ends of the ice, helping the Wings bounce back from Saturday’s loss at Carolina.
After a scoreless first period, the action started to pick up in the second period and the Maple Leafs were the first to break through, taking advantage of a tripping penalty called on Detroit’s Ben Chiarot just 3:40 into the period.
Less than a minute later, Matthew Knies scored his 10th goal of the season, knocking home a pass from Auston Matthews while taking a crosscheck to the back, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead at 4:25 of the second. Matthews and John Tavares drew the assists.
The Wings put themselves in a difficult spot nearly midway through the second when J.T. Compher went off for slashing at 9:31 of the period. But Detroit responded with an impressive penalty kill, highlighted by a series of blocked shots from Edvinsson.
A blast from Matthews caught Edvinsson square in the leg, sending him crumpling to the ice. Unable to get back to his feet as the play continued, Edvinsson then essentially crawled into the shooting lane and was able to lift his stick to block another shot from Matthews, eliciting roars from the home crowd.
It proved to be critical as the Red Wings killed the penalty to remain just a goal behind.
Late in the period, consistent offensive pressure from the Wings paid off. After Lucas Raymond beat Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby only to have his shot ring off the post, Moritz Seider fired a wrist shot from the blue line that found its way past Hildeby to tie the game a goal apiec with 59 second left in the second period.
It was Seider’s seventh goal of the season as Raymond drew the only assist, his 31st of the year.
Detroit was dangerous early in the third period, but a giveaway in its own ended up with the puck in the back of its own net when Bobby McCann one-timed a pass from Max Domi past Talbot at 4:59 to put Toronto ahead, 2-1. It was McCann’s 12th goal of the season and Domi’s 14th assist.
The Wings responded quickly as Mason Appleton took a feed from Michael Rasmussen, beating Hildeby 23 seconds later for his fourth goal of the season, tying the game at 2. It was Rasmussen’s seventh assist with the second assist going to Albert Johansson, his fifth of the season.
The Red Wings came close to finishing it in the final minutes of regulation, but Andrew Copp was denied by Hildeby then hit the post after he had corralled the rebound.
