NEWARK, N.J. _ The Detroit Red Wings lost their early season MVP in the first period, lost their lead in the second period _ and then figured out how to score.
That earned them a much-needed 5-4 overtime victory Friday at Prudential Center over the New Jersey Devils, winning for the second straight time after a four-game losing streak.
Mike Green scored 3:18 of overtime, with Frans Nielsen and Anthony Mantha assisting. The output is the highest since the fifth game of the season.
Jimmy Howard left midway through the first period after suffering a groin injury. Petr Mrazek replaced him. Mrazek gave up three goals on 16 shots through regulation.
Nielsen scored twice in the first period. Justin Abdelkader made a big play to set up Nielsen's first goal, and helped out Mrazek in the second period.
Dylan Larkin scored with 1.2 seconds left in the second period and Mantha scored 43 seconds into the third period as the Wings scored four goals for the first time in 14 games.
Both sides didn't generate much the first few minutes, but the Devils scored an opportunistic goal at 6:01 when Travis Zajac found John Moore alone in the left circle, and Moore sent the puck behind Howard on what was New Jersey's first shot on goal, at 6:01.
It was, funnily enough, a penalty situation that ignited the Wings. Riley Sheahan got a double-minor for high-sticking, and a minute later, Abdelkader stole the puck off Damon Severson and fired a shot on Cory Schneider. Nielsen scored on the rebound. Steve Ott had a nice breakaway soon after, but it was Nielsen who got the Wings to 2-1, when he scored on Sheahan's rebound at 10:41. The Wings had a 12-4 shot advantage in the first period.
The Devils tied it up four minutes into the second period. Ryan Sproul lost a puck battle to Mike Cammalleri, and then Cammalleri beat three other defenders to the net. Danny DeKeyser missed getting the puck out on the next penalty kill, leading to Pavel Zacha making it 3-2. That gave New Jersey two goals on three second-period shots.
The Wings took their fifth penalty halfway through the period. When they finally got a a power play of their own, they didn't register any shots on net. Late in the period, Tomas Tatar had a great chance down lot after being set up by Henrik Zetterberg, but couldn't finish.
Abdelkader had a highlight save in the period when he made a kick save on Cammalleri while Mrazek was out of his net. Larkin earned a highlight in the last second, when he used his speed to race into the Devils' zone and score. New Jersey challenged possession, but review showed Larkin had control.
Mantha powered up the left wing and cut in to fire a bit shot that made it 4-3 in the opening minute of the third period, scoring for the second time in three games. Adam Henrique tipped a shot with 5:11 left in regulation to re-tie the game.
