Trending: Wings can't complete comeback against hot Blackhawks

DETROIT -- For the second time in three games, the Detroit Red Wings couldn't complete their comeback.
On Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, the Wings rallied from a 5-1 third-period deficit to force overtime, only to lose in OT.

On Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, their former Central Division rival, the Wings came back from a 4-1 deficit to force overtime again, only to lose when Blackhawks star Patrick Kane scored his second goal of the game for a 5-4 victory.
Dylan Larkin (two) and Andreas Athanasiou (two, one power play) scored for the Wings.

Artem Anisimov, Brandon Saad, Alex DeBrincat and Kane (two, including overtime winner) scored for the Blackhawks.
Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard allowed four goals on eight shots before Jonathan Bernier replaced him early in the second period. Bernier had 11 saves but once again, ended up as the tough-luck loser.
Chicago netminder Cam Ward had 31 saves.
The Wings dropped to 23-29-9. The Blackhawks improved to 26-26-9 and have won 10 of their last 12.
Up next for the Wings is another Western Conference opponent, the Minnesota Wild, on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.
The Blackhawks return home to host the Colorado Avalanche Friday.
1. Dylan Larkin: His teammates might not have been but Larkin was certainly ready for the Blackhawks, coming out with speed and a lot of fire. At 6:37 of the first, just after Ward had denied his shot, Larkin got another chance and didn't miss, scoring into the far side of the net from the right circle. Anthony Mantha and Filip Hronek assisted on the goal. Larkin was not done. At 4:19 of the third period, defenseman Trevor Daley skated around the Chicago net and found Larkin in front. Larkin beat Ward glove-side for his second of the game and team-high 26th of the season. Mantha got the second assist. It was Larkin's third two-goal game of the season. He also scored two in a 5-3 win Oct. 30 at Columbus and in a 6-4 loss Jan. 18 at Calgary. Larkin also had an assist in the game. Larkin finished with 31 shifts for a team-high 23:54, had a team-high nine shots, two hits, two giveaways, one takeaway, one blocked shot, was 17-of-23 in face-offs and was plus-1. The nine shots are tied for Larkin's second most this season. He also had nine shots on Dec. 29 at Dallas. Larkin's season high is 10 shots against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 24.

Quotable: "I try to play hard every night. I think for me skating with the puck is everything and moving my feet. Tonight, I don't know if it's I got going in the first. I felt like I had the puck in good spots and moving my feet up ice. I think anyone who's skating fast with the puck and looking to make plays can change the game. I guess that's what I try to do every night. Sometimes it doesn't happen but I thought tonight I was getting pucks in good spots." -- Larkin
Quotable II: "Part of what we're trying to do here is the young guys continue to grow. I've said it before. I think our arc is headed in the right direction but a huge part of it is their continued growth. If there isn't continued growth, then we won't be good enough. So those guys got to keep growing. I thought Larks, Bert (Tyler Bertuzzi) and Mantha was the best line on the ice, I thought throughout the game and I thought Double-A heated up as the game went along. Twenty-two goals for Dubs, that's a big number. So good for those guys. You're disappointed, you come back for the second time in three games and you don't win in overtime, it's disappointing. I like the fact we dug in in the third. I thought in the second we just kind of melted. I didn't like us in the second, I didn't think we dug in when we got down. There's tons of hockey left, we know they give up lots of goals. I didn't love our grind at that point, I didn't love our push, but I thought we came out in the third and attacked the way you have to attack, especially when you're down and we got rewarded for it." -- Wings coach Jeff Blashill
Quotable III: "It's fun. Obviously, Dylan's the best player on our team this year. He skates so fast he opens up a lot of ice for his linemates. We just use that ice and try to make plays and then Bert on the forecheck in front of the net, he's hard to play against. It's a great combination." -- Mantha

2. Anthony Mantha: There really is very little that Mantha cannot do on the ice. He can shoot, he can pass and he can score. But that all depends on when he's skating. Playing with Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi, Mantha got up to speed fairly quickly and assisted on all four Detroit goals. The four points are a new season high and tie Mantha's career high, set March 6, 2018, at Boston, when he had two goals and two assists. It is a new game-high in assists for Mantha. Mantha had a golden opportunity in overtime at 1:59 when he came in on a breakaway but failed to put the puck past Ward. Mantha finished with 27 shifts for a season-high 21:44, had seven shots, one hit, one giveaway, was 1-for-1 in face-offs and was plus-2. The seven shots were tied for his second most this season. He also had seven Sunday against Philadelphia. Mantha had 10 shots on Nov. 26 at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Quotable: "I wish I had it again. I just thought I had him wide and then I cut to the middle. I saw Frans Nielsen do that move plenty of times in practice and games, so I just tried it. I don't even know if it hit the inside of his pad or right on his pad, but I wish I would've slid that five-hole." - Mantha on his overtime chance
Quotable II: "I think from playing with him, when he's on the forecheck and he's using that big body to win pucks back, that's when we're gonna spend a lot of time in the o-zone. He had four assists tonight but it could've been more. He wants more. You saw his patience when he gets the puck. When he's forechecking, when he's holding on to the puck, he's a dangerous player, someone that anyone would love to play with. It's good to see that." -- Larkin
Quotable III: "When he moves his feet on a consistent basis, I thought against Philly he was the best player on the ice and I thought tonight he was the second best player on the ice to Larkin. I guess you've got to give Kane and (Jonathan) Toews some of that, too. They were pretty darn good, too. But certainly for us, I thought he was the second best player on the ice. So when he moves his feet, he's 6-foot-5, he's got great hands, got great release, can make plays and he's a horse. It's just a continued process. I think some of that's confidence. I talked to some of the people with Chicago today and they were just talking about Jonathan Toews and the last couple years he was really grinding it and the production wasn't there. Now the confidence has just made him a different player again. He's one of the best players in the world and that's what confidence does. I think when Mo feels confident, he's a great player. So hopefully he can keep this thing rolling." -- Blashill
3. Andreas Athanasiou: Like most of the team, Athanasiou started off a little slow but heated up later in the game. With the Wings on the power play in the third period, trailing by two, Athanasiou went to the left side of the net and picked up a rebound and banked it off Ward for his 21st goal of the season. Then when the Wings pulled Bernier for the extra attacker, Athanasiou went to the right side of the net and took a perfect pass from Mantha and roofed it for his second goal of the game. Athanasiou is now just four goals behind Larkin, who leads the Wings with 26 goals. Athanasiou finished with 23 shifts for 18:09, had four shots, one blocked shot, was 2-of-3 in face-offs and was minus-1.

Quotable: "I always do a pretty good job of producing opportunities. I think every time you play a game in this league you get better as a player and mature as a player. I'm just always trying to take steps forward and learn from different situations that I get put in." -- Athanasiou
Quotable II: "I think there's been great growth in Andreas. I think he's been a much more consistent performer regardless of the output. I think he's been a much more consistent performer. He's a unique player in that you can play him in a lot of different spots and he can produce. Some guys need to play with playmakers to produce, he can self-produce. I think his engagement from day one's been great and I think it's showing in the overall year." -- Blashill
Quotable III: "He's playing great. He's getting those nice goals. He's hard to play against also. When he skates, when he dangles, he could be one of the best players in this league." -- Mantha