RECAP: Walman's 'go-for-broke' game-winner gets Red Wings past Canes, 3-2

DETROIT -- Jake Walman smiled as he took the podium for his postgame interview inside the Meijer Media Room at Little Caesars Arena.
"That was fun, eh?"

Walman was referring to the celebration that ensued after his blistering shot from the point beat opposing goalie Frederik Andersen with 3.2 seconds left in regulation, helping the Detroit Red Wings secure a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
"These games are meaningful for us and the young team that we got," said Walman, who has a career-high 15 points on nine goals and six assists this season. "It's a lot of experience playing against teams that are battling for playoff spots. This is our playoffs, so every game is important. I think it will help us next year and in the long run."
Opening the scoring just 59 seconds after the puck dropped, Dominik Kubalik notched his 20th goal of the season to give Detroit a quick 1-0 lead. Carolina got on the scoreboard less than a minute into the second period, then broke the tie 3:36 later. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin evened things up again, 2-2, with a power-play goal with just over 12 minutes left before the second intermission.
"I just liked our third," Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. "We had some chances there to finish it off even prior to that [Walman goal] so a good push."
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves in the win for the Red Wings, who improved to 33-32-9 (75 points) this season. With the loss, the Hurricanes moved to 47-18-9 (103 points).
"He played unreal tonight," Walman said about Nedeljkoivc. "More than a couple big saves. He for sure won us that game."
NEXT UP: The Red Wings will close out their back-to-back with a matchup against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at Canada Life Centre. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT.

SCORING SUMMARY

Detroit 1, Carolina 0 (00:59, 1st period)
Kubalik, with some help from David Perron and Moritz Seider, raced into the left face-off circle on the rush and fired the puck home. Seider tied Alex Delvecchio (76) for the fifth-most assists by a Red Wings player before the age of 22.

Carolina 1, Detroit 1 (00:42, 2nd period)
Brent Burns' shot from the point got through traffic and beat Nedeljkovic to tie the game at one apiece.
Carolina 2, Detroit 1 (4:18, 2nd period)
Shortly after a power play expired, Jaccob Slavin buried a shot from distance to give Carolina its first lead of the night.
Detroit 2, Carolina 2 (7:26, 2nd period)
Larkin got a centering pass from Alex Chiasson and sent it in on Andersen's glove side for his team-leading 28th goal of the season. Perron also recorded an assist on Larkin's tally, which came on Detroit's first power play of the night. Larkin became the first Detroit skater to score at least 15 power-play goals in a single season since Henrik Zetterberg had 16 man-advantage tallies during the 2007-08 campaign.

Detroit 3, Carolina 2 (19:56, 3rd)
Walman one-timed Andrew Copp's feed through traffic for his second game-winning goal of the season. Adam Erne also picked up an assist.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on the value Perron brings to the Red Wings
"Very important. He only knows one way. I think it was hard for some of the guys to go through what we went through and find ways to stay, if you will, motivated. I think it's just human nature. But he's a guy who just keeps going."
Walman on his game-winner
"Just a good play by Copper. It was a go-for-broke kind of play. There was not much time left, so he made a really good pass, a good screen and it went in."
Walman on if he knew how much time was left in regulation before his goal
"I came off the bench and knew there were under 10 seconds left. I guess I just go for offense at that point."
Nedeljkovic on his last few starts
"It's nice getting to play a couple games in a row and get into a rhythm. Feeling good. A couple goals kind of beat me from afar and went through me. Still a couple little things I'd like to clean up, but I thought overall we did a pretty good job limiting their quality chances tonight."