Red Wings hold off red-hot Oilers, 4-2, for third straight win

Detroit — Vladislav Namestnikov stole the show, scoring the game’s first two goals and forcing the Edmonton Oilers to play from behind the whole way in a 4-2 Detroit Red Wings victory Tuesday night over one of the NHL’s most vaunted teams.

Yes, Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers (9-2) with his ninth of the season 38 seconds into the third period and Jesse Puljujarvi scored his sixth with 35 seconds left in the second.

But NHL goal-scoring leader Leon Draisaitl (10 goals) didn’t beat Detroit goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 31 saves, and the Red Wings (7-5-2) held on for an impressive victory.

“He was unreal tonight,” Namestnikov said of Nedeljkovic. “If it wasn’t for him, who knows how the game could’ve went. He stood on his head.”

Namestnikov, the nephew of Russian Five star Slava Kozlov who was central to a team that broke Detroit’s four-decade Stanley Cup drought in 1997, is now second on the team with seven goals.  

BOX SCORE: Oilers 4, Red Wings 2

Detroit’s fourth-line wingers created a rush that was a thing of pure hockey beauty for the game’s first goal at 14:03 of the first period.

Sam Gagner gathered the loose puck while approaching center ice and quickly passed it ahead to Namestnikov, gliding down the right side and receiving the puck just before the blue line.

Namestnikov then put on a burst of speed, shaved ice spraying off his skate blades as he created a crease between a defenseman and goalie Stuart Skinner. He kept the puck on his stick blade while swooping in front of Skinner before wristing it home to his stick side.

Detroit fans at Little Caesars Arena erupted with joy as Namestnikov received congratulations from his teammates for a show of both power skating and artistic stickhandling.

“I had speed coming through and Gags found me,” Namestnikov said. “And I saw I had that lane and took it to the net, and just had to get it over the goalie.”

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said: “I thought he played really, really good. Obviously, getting on the board first is a big part of winning — especially at home and especially with the crowd as good they’ve been. It was great energy and just good momentum.

“I think the game he played was real important for us. I thought it was one of his better games in the last little bit. He’s had a good year, but tonight he was really good.”

It was fitting that Gagner — a former Oilers first-round pick who spent five seasons in Edmonton — would begin that play after being honored for playing his 900th NHL game with a public address announcement earlier in that period.

Both the Red Wings and his former Oilers teammates applauded loudly from their side-by-side benches, many banging sticks along the boards. It was a show of respect for Gagner, whom Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after the morning skate, “Does it the right way.”

Gagner also was key on the penalty-killing unit that thwarted Edmonton’s elite power play attack midway through the second period.

The Oilers got the man advantage when Detroit defenseman Filip Hronek took his stick to McDavid’s legs to bring him down.

McDavid stayed on the ice for all but a few seconds of the power play, which produced just one shot. Edmonton’s other power play also proved unproductive.

Blashill termed the Oilers “super dangerous” and said of limiting McDavid-Draisaitl — the NHL’s top two scorers: “We used three and four lines to match against them tonight.” He added that the duo was split at times during the game.

Namestnikov made it 2-0 at 6:43 of the second period by smacking in the rebound of a shot by Hronek, who was credited with an assist along with center Michael Rasmussen.

Right wing Adam Erne ignited everything by fighting for the puck behind the net and flicking it high and long to Rasmussen.

Larkin took advantage of a great chance to score his fourth of the season at 14:09 of that period. Skinner left the net open to go to his right to clear a puck off the boards. However, instead of angling it to come off toward the opposite corner, he erred in directing it right in front of the net, where Larking immediately sent it to the twine.

The goal was unassisted but physical forward Givani Smith poked the puck forward from the defensive end all the way to Skinner to set up the opportunity.

Moritz Seider scored his second of the season into an empty net with 5.4 seconds remaining to play, and the crowd roared as it had during most of a special night in Hockeytown.

“The arena was buzzing,” said Namestnikov, who scored just eight goals in 53 games last season.

He said it was a “weird year” what with COVID-19 restrictions and delays, but said, “I had a good summer and it’s paid off for me.”

Namestnikov, who turns 29 on Nov. 22, was the first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011, when current Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman selected him for that franchise. He scored a career-high 20 goals for the Bolts in 2017-18, on a line with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.

Yzerman signed him as a free agent for the Red Wings Oct. 11, 2020. He’s two goals away from 100, still relatively young, and could finally be hitting the stride many once envisioned for him.

Steve Kornacki is a freelance writer.