DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the surging Detroit Red Wings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Friday night.
Marco Kasper scored his first goal in 37 games and added an assist to help Detroit win for the fifth time in six games. Alex DeBrincat scored a team-high 25th goal and JT Compher scored the other for the Red Wings.
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Lucas Raymond contributed 3 assists and James van Riemsdyk contributed 2 assists. John Gibson made 20 saves.
Will Smith scored for San Jose as he returned from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for 13 games. The Sharks’ other goal was scored by Collin Graf, and Macklin Celebrini, the NHL’s third-leading scorer, added an assist with 72 points. Celebrini has 32 points in the past 18 games.
Yaroslav Askarov stopped 21 shots for the Sharks and won seven of nine games.
Detroit started its first power play when Raymond assisted DeBrincat, who fired a buzzer-beater into the net from the left circle.
Smith tied the score midway through the first quarter after Celebrini’s shot sailed past Gibson and rolled toward the goal line. Smith put the puck in the net.
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With 1:58 left in the second quarter, Graf tipped in a pass from Nick Leddy to give the Sharks the lead. Five minutes later, Kasper’s pass through the defender’s legs helped Confer score, tying the score at 2.
Larkin put the puck between the post and Askarov’s pad to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 4:41 of the third period. Casper ended his scoring drought with an empty-netter with 1:32 left in the game.
Next
Sharks: Visit the Florida Panthers on Monday.
Red Wings: Host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL