DENVER _ The energy pulsated in the third period as the Detroit Red Wings fed off their many fans and their opponent fought for playoff positioning.
The Wings and Colorado Avalanche are long past their rivalry days but the sea of red spotted throughout Pepsi Center Tuesday injected atmosphere. Filip Zadina made the night memorable with his first NHL goal, but the Wings' losing streak grew to eight when Nathan MacKinnon secured a 4-3 overtime victory for the Avs.
Fans wearing McCarty and Yzerman jerseys were among the sea of red in the stands, but that didn't inject the Wings with energy to start the game. They were overmatched to start the game, pushed back by an opponent fighting for playoff positioning. Niklas Kronwall saved the first period with a power play goal, and Jonathan Bernier saved the second period with 16 saves.
Danny DeKeyser scored a go-ahead goal in the third period, but Mikko Rantanen scored while Michael Rasmussen was in the penalty box, flicking a backhand into the net at 8:39. The Wings unsuccessfully challenged goaltender interference.
It wasn't a pretty start: on the opening shift, MacKinnon nabbed the puck and set up Rantanen's backhand attempt. A minute later, Bernier had to deal with a J.T. Compher breakaway. The Wings did not register a shot on net until 6:28 when Trevor Daley fired the puck in from the right point, a shot Semyon Varlamov saw all the way. It took until midway through the first period before the Wings had any jam to them. They converted on a power play when Thomas Vanek got the puck to Kronwall, whose shot from the blue line whizzed through traffic and into the net, at 16:47.
The Wings killed off the 1:42 left on a Colorado power play to start the second period but were scored on two seconds later when Compher had a clean shot on net and sent the puck over Bernier's right shoulder. That shouldn't have deflated the Wings to the extent it did, but they barely got into Colorado's zone the next 10 minutes. Post-goal, the ratio through the first half of the period was 10:1. It was basically a repeat of the first period, with the Wings sleepwalking for 10-12 minutes before coming together, and Kronwall even tried the same shot during a late power play. The Wings finished with eight shots in the period, but allowed 17.
