Trending: Fired-up Red Wings take down Predators, 4-3, in overtime

DETROIT -- Sometimes without saying a word, you just know when something good is going to happen.
When Nashville's Ryan Johansen knotted the score at 3-3 at 18:44 of the third period with goalie Pekka Rinne on the bench, Detroit did not become crestfallen.

Instead, the Wings had a quiet resolve. They had played too well to lose and to a man, they felt they were not going to be denied.
This was their game to win and with 26 seconds left in overtime, Dylan Larkin showed terrific patience, beating Rinne on a sneaky backhand, sending the crowd into a frenzy at Little Caesars Arena and making the Red Wings 4-3 victors.
It was a solid game for the Wings, who welcomed Anthony Mantha back after he missed 15 games with an injured hand, saw Tyler Bertuzzi score for the first time in 15 games and celebrated Thomas Vanek's 1,000th career game.
Larkin, Bertuzzi, Vanek and Andreas Athanasiou were Detroit's goal scorers, while Johansen, P.K. Subban and Craig Smith lit the lamp for the Predators.
With the victory, the Wings snapped a six-game losing skid (0-4-2) and improved to 16-20-7. Nashville's record falls to 24-15-3.
Detroit's five-game homestand continues Sunday afternoon when the defending Stanley Cup-champion Washington Capitals come to town, with face-off slated for 5 p.m.
1. Thomas Vanek: Vanek celebrated his 1,000th career NHL game just the way a goal scorer should - by getting a goal at 13:35 of the second period. The goal, Vanek's seventh of the season and 364th of his career, tied the game at 2. Vanek's rebound goal barely beat Rinne glove-side. Rookie defenseman Dennis Cholowski got the only assist. Vanek's family, including his wife, Ashley, his oldest son, Blake, 11, and his twin sons, Kade and Luka, 8, plus many friends were all on hand for the milestone night. Vanek had a chance at a second goal when Mantha passed to him but Rinne cleverly poked the puck out of harm's way. Vanek finished with 22 shifts for 16:04, had three shots, one giveaway, one minor penalty and was even.

Quotable: "It was great. It was a lot of fun. I didn't know what to expect. The fans were great. I thought we played really good, got the win. It was perfect. I thought we played with a lot of passion tonight. That was good. Having my wife and the kids here. My kids are old enough so they understand what's going on. It's a special moment for all of us." -- Vanek

Quotable II: "We were looking for him all night. He's a hard-working guy, a great teammate. We're all happy. It gives me chills thinking about him scoring in his 1,000th game and us getting the win. He was more fired up for the win, that's for sure. Just congrats to him and congrats to his family. There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears from everyone in the family and I know they're here enjoying it and it's awesome to see." - Larkin
Quotable III: "I think it's awesome for him to have that kind of night. He was excellent tonight. I thought he had a lot of jump in his legs. He won tons of pucks. When he does that, he makes a lot of plays. When the puck's on his stick in the offensive zone, he makes tons of plays. So the fact that he scored I thought was great. He's an excellent competitor, an excellent person. I'm real happy for him." -- Wings coach Jeff Blashill

2. Dylan Larkin: If there was any doubt that Larkin is the Red Wings' go-to guy, it was erased when the Detroit native scored at 4:34 of overtime, setting a Red Wings record for the most overtime game-winners in a season with four. Larkin, who had his 14-game point streak end in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Calgary, was in the groove all game, flying all over the ice and making plays. After the Calgary game, he told the press he wasn't happy with his effort against the Flames and he didn't care about his point streak, but he was extremely disappointed in his game. It's that attitude which has propelled the 22-year-old to becoming the unofficial leader of his team. Larkin was on the ice for 22:48 and played a total of 30 shifts. He had a goal, registered six shots and won 57 percent of his face-offs (12-of-21).

Quotable: "They scored the tying goal with a minute left, I felt, and I think the bench felt we weren't losing. There's no way. We played too well. Too much was going right for us. We were getting too many chances. I knew one way or another we were going to win that game. We didn't sink, we didn't fold. We played that minute and a half out and in overtime we got our chances, so that's a positive. Going down by two goals and coming back from that, our preparation for tonight just speaks to the guys in here and the coaching staff getting us ready for tonight." -- Larkin
Quotable II: "The want is always there with him. He wants the moment. Some guys don't totally want the moment. He absolutely, 100 percent wants the moment. I think the growth process in him has been understanding, the same as what I just said about Fil Hronek, that you can't force it, it's still got to come. You try to make plays, you do those things, but it still has to happen. You can't make it happen necessarily. But I think he's really grown in that area and that's why we've had more success in the 3-on-3 this year. He's played lots and he's done a great job of managing it. So, the 4-on-3 wasn't good enough, we'll have to go back to the drawing board on that. But certainly him getting back on the ice, there was no question that he wanted that moment again." -- Blashill
3. Andreas Athanasiou/Tyler Bertuzzi: If there's one thing about Athanasiou, he does not need much space to create something special. At 4:24 of the second period, Athanasiou came speeding into the offensive zone and managed to backhand the puck from a bad angle on the right side over into the top of the net. It was Athanasiou's 15th goal of the season, second in two games and fourth in five games. Athanasiou edged a bit closer to Detroit's leading goal scorer, Larkin, who has 18. Tyler Bertuzzi was elevated to the top line with Larkin and Gustav Nyquist and did what he does best. When Nyquist went to the net midway through the third period, he saw Bertuzzi coming and backhanded a pass back to give Bertuzzi a near-empty net to put the puck. Bertuzzi got his 10th goal of the season and first since Dec. 1 at Boston, 14 games ago. Nyquist extended his team lead in assists to 25, three more than Larkin's 22. Bertuzzi became the fourth player on the team with double-digit goals, joining Larkin, Athanasiou and Nyquist, who also has 10. Athanasiou finished with 21 shifts for 16:08, had three shots, one giveaway, one blocked shot and was plus-1. Bertuzzi finished with 23 shifts for 16:41, had two shots, a giveaway, two blocked shots and was even.

Quotable: "It was just a forecheck. Gus pressured them along the wall and it kind of just hit my stick, went right to Gus and he made a good play back door. This is huge. They're one of the best teams in the league and it's a big bounce back for us, and it shows we can play against the best teams in the league." -- Bertuzzi

Quotable II: "I thought Mo (Mantha) was great. I thought all of a sudden your lineup, you add (Darren) Helm, you add Mo, your lineup's a lot better in different ways. Mo, when he plays with that type of skating, he's a force. He's a big man who's got lots of skill, can make lots of plays. I thought he was really, really good. So now all of a sudden you get the Larkin line is dangerous, the (Frans) Nielsen line's dangerous, you got the (Luke) Glendening line's dangerous. Athanasiou at any point can pop and get a scoring chance as he scored that goal. Then you got a line in (Jacob) de la Rose, Ras (Michael Rasmussen) and Abby (Justin Abdelkader) that can grind and can be accountable defensively. So it makes your forward lineup real good." -- Blashill