#LGRW Final: Red Wings claim a point, fall in OT to Panthers, 3-2

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings put forth a much better effort on Thursday following Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, but were unable to hold the lead in the second game of the two-game set, falling in overtime, 3-2, at BB&T Center.

Detroit (12-21-5) had the lead at 1-0 and 2-1, but Florida (24-9-4) earned the tying goals and Panthers forward Alex Wennberg recorded the game winner at 1:25 of overtime. Florida's win secured the series sweep and improved the club to 6-2-0 against Detroit this season.
"I thought we played better," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "Overall, we were way better defensively. The goal against in the first was a massive breakdown, but other than that, I thought we defended better. We did a really good job of staying above them, especially in the neutral zone. We had our chances."

Red Wings goaltender Thomas Greiss made 33 of 36 saves in the defeat and turned aside 57 of 61 shots in the two-game series after entering Tuesday's contest in the first period in relief of Calvin Pickard.
"He's been great for us these last two," Red Wings forward Luke Glendening said of Greiss. "He kept us in it tonight and gave us a great chance for the win. It's frustrating for us and for him that we couldn't pull it out. Hopefully he can keep building on this. He played two great games here."
Red Wings forward Adam Erne - skating in his 200th NHL game - scored the opening goal for Detroit to tie his career-high with seven goals on the year, and forward Anthony Mantha notched his 10th goal of the season in the loss. Defenseman Patrick Nemeth also recorded assists on both goals for his first multi-point game of the year.
After being a healthy scratch for the last three games, Red Wings defenseman Troy Stecher set up the game's first goal at 4:21 of the opening frame.
The blueliner took a hard hit as he dumped the puck into the offensive zone but stayed with the play and the puck eventually found its way back to him at the point. He fired a shot-pass that Erne deflected into the net from the top of the slot to give the Red Wings the lead on their first shot of the game.

Florida tied the game at 1-1 six minutes later with a goal from Noel Acciari. Carter Verhaeghe collected an assist on the play after carrying the puck to the right of Greiss and finding Acciari at the top of the crease.
Detroit's first goal came on its only shot through the opening 10 minutes of the game. But the Red Wings picked it up offensively in the second half of the frame, recording 10 shots to earn an 11-9 edge at the end of the first period.
The Red Wings continued applying pressure early in the second period, as forward Filip Zadina rang a shot off the post only 15 seconds into the period off a cross-crease pass from forward Robby Fabbri.
A combined five penalties were called in the second period, but neither team lit the lamp with the man advantage or at even strength, and the two teams went into the second intermission tied at 1-1.
Mantha reclaimed the lead for Detroit at 6:07 of the third period. Forward Michael Rasmussen corralled the puck through the neutral zone and attempted to dump the puck into the zone. But it deflected off a Panthers defenseman and found Mantha, who accelerated down the left wing and beat Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger with a snapshot on the short side.
"(Rasmussen) is really taking steps," Blashill said of the play that set up Mantha's goal. "He did a real good job on the wall there and made himself big and strong. He seems to be gaining confidence with the puck."

Florida tied the game once again with a power-play goal from forward Frank Vatrano at 10:37, only six seconds into their second power play of the third period.
Neither team could break the 2-2 tie in regulation before Wennberg lit the lamp in overtime to secure the victory for the Panthers. Detroit fell to 1-5 in overtime games this season.
"I thought we battled hard," Glendening said. "I thought we did things better than we did on Tuesday. Unfortunately, we didn't get the result we were looking for, but a step in the right direction for sure."
The Red Wings travel to Tampa Bay for a pair of afternoon games this weekend at Amalie Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Bally Sports Detroit Plus / 97.1 The Ticket) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (NBC / 97.1 The Ticket).