RECAP: Perron's two-goal night in San Jose helps lift Detroit to 5-3 win

SAN JOSE -- David Perron scored two third-period goals, including the go-ahead tally with 1:30 remaining, and had an assist to help lift the Red Wings to a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday night.

Kicking off the 2024 calendar year and its three-game California road trip with a victory, Detroit improved its record to 18-16-4 (40 points). San Jose lost its ninth straight game, falling to 9-26-3 (21 points).

Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon finished with 24 saves, while Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen made 26.

"I think we're fighting for our lives and every point is massive right now," said Lyon, who improved to 6-4-0 with a 2.53 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 10 games this season. "Huge victory for us on the road. (The Sharks) played really hard tonight, just scrappy."

While on a power play in the first period, Daniel Sprong won a faceoff and got the puck to Perron below San Jose's blue line. After collecting Perron’s pass near the wall, Shayne Gostisbehere fed the puck to Lucas Raymond, who skated into the right faceoff circle before setting up Sprong for a one-timer at the top of the slot at 6:11. It marked Sprong’s 10th goal of the season, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.

"The good thing with our power play, why it keeps chugging along here, is we have a lot of options," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said.

Evening the score for the Sharks with 3:10 left in the opening frame, Fabian Zetterlund found a loose puck in front of the Red Wings' crease and pushed it past the goal line for his 11th goal of the season, making it a 1-1 game. The goal was upheld after officials reviewed and deemed the puck went into the net as a result of a continuous play.

Detroit and San Jose also scored one goal apiece in the second period. J.T. Compher notched his ninth of the season during a 4-on-4 at 6:07, slipping a shot from above the right faceoff circle through Kahkonen’s pads to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Justin Holl and Olli Maatta recorded the assists on the play, and Compher extended his point streak to four straight games.

Justin Bailey tied it for the Sharks, 2-2 at 18:54 of the second when he redirected Mario Ferraro’s shot in front of the crease for his second goal of the season.

Giving San Jose its first lead of the night at 9:24 of the third period, Alexander Barabanov buried a shot from the right faceoff circle past Lyon to make it 3-2.

"They are a desperate team," Lalonde said about the Sharks. "They are a care-free team. They go, go, go and play hard."

Just 1:31 later, Perron tied it, 3-3, with a power-play goal. Sprong and Gostisbehere had the assists on Perron’s eighth goal of the season, which the 35-year-old forward one-timed from one knee while wide open inside the left faceoff circle.

Perron scored his second goal of the frame, and ninth of the campaign, at 18:30 when his centering pass went off the skate of Kyle Burroughs into the back of the Sharks' net to make it 4-3. Recording the lone assist on Perron's go-ahead goal, Raymond matched an NHL career-high with three assists on Tuesday.

"DP was excellent tonight," Lalonde said. "But his line was driving. Our best push, our best complete hockey was probably the 15 minutes to start the second. That was the line that was driving us. They pushed us tonight and got rewarded with some offense, so it was a big part of why we won."

Michael Rasmussen sealed the win with an empty netter at 19:54, lightning the lamp for the eighth time this season.

"Our goal is to win every road trip we can," Lalonde said. "You get as many points as games on the road to have a successful road trip. We've got two bagged, get a practice in tomorrow. We'll need to be a little bit better to be successful in L.A."

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will continue their three-game road trek on Thursday night when they visit the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on Detroit's power play on Tuesday night

"Second unit was huge. Obviously to go 2-for-4 on the road, 50 percent, we'll certainly take that. A lot of it was generated from that Compher unit. It was huge, needed it and they got us the first one to get us going and obviously got the goal to tie the game."

Lyon on withstanding the Sharks' late push

"I just felt like they were playing good hockey. They got good players over there. I think especially in this league, you can't get fooled into looking at the records because they have a lot of extremely dangerous, talented players. They played really hard, but amazing bounce back by the guys."

Lyon on how his game feels right now

"I feel good. I feel like I'm still building. Wasn't perfect tonight by any means, but never going to apologize for a win. That's how I operate. Move on, try to be crisper. Like I said, just happy. You can't be angry after a victory."