The second line answered for the Detroit Red Wings time and again, pushing back against an early onslaught.
Returning to Little Caesars Arena for another week, the Wings took on the New Jersey Devils in a battle of two of the top-shooting teams in the NHL. One of them backed that up from the start on on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and it wasn't the home team.
Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, both 21 years old, set up each other's goals, and veteran Alex DeBrincat, the left wing on the line, also had a multi-point night, but the Wings had to settle for one point when Jack Hughes scored in overtime to hand the Wings a 5-4 loss.
DeBrincat celebrated his second goal and third point of the night 5:46 into the third period when he one-timed a pass by Moritz Seider, tying the game.
Who played
Marco Kasper, J.T. Compher and Mason Appleton remained sidelined by injuries, and Nate Danielson was scratched from the lineup as the Wings went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the fourth time this season. Up front, Dylan Larkin was with Viktor Arvidsson and Lucas Raymond, Emmitt Finnie with Alex DeBrincat and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Andrew Copp with Michael Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar, and Sheldon Dries and Carter Mazur saw spot duty.
On the back end, Moritz Seider paired with Ben Chiarot, Justin Faulk with Albert Johansson, Anton Johansson with Andreas Englund and Axel Sandin-Pellikka also played.
More: Detroit Red Wings are shooting plenty, they just aren't scoring. What can they do to fix that?
No exit
The Wings couldn't get out of their zone the first several minutes and eventually it caught up to them with Stefan Noesen maneuvering a loose puck at his legs over to Evan Rodrigues for a 1-0 lead at 6:07, with shots at 3-0 at the time. Ex-Wing Anthony Mantha drew the second assist. It wasn't until the midpoint of the period that Jake Allen had to make a save, on Moritz Seider, and 12 minutes in, shots favored the Devils, 11-1.
Huge goal
Arvidsson looked like he would make something happen on a rush in the second half of the first period, driving the puck to the net through traffic but his shot went wide. Shots were 16-2 to the Devils when Finnie blasted out of the neutral zone and down the left flank, extending his stick to corral the puck Brandsegg-Nygard had sent into the zone, firing a shot that went in off the far post and made it 1-1 at 18:35. Anton Johansson earned his first career NHL point with the second assist. The Wings had three shots to New Jersey's 15 after 20 minutes.
Making them count
The Wings came into the game averaging 32.8 shots per game, but only two goals. They made them count against the Devils, going up 2-1 on their fourth shot of the night. This time it was Finnie who found Brandsegg-Nygard with a pass across the slot, and Brandsegg-Nygard finishing the play when he ripped the puck from just inside the left circle for his second goal of the season.
Easy pickings
The Wings grabbed momentum, only to give it back soon after. Dawson Mercer fired a pass across the ice and straight to Mantha, who was wide open with Justin Faulk trying to gap up and had time and space to make it 2-2 at 7:03 of the second period. Faulk was on the ice again during a penalty kill when Nico Hischier made short work of both him and Albert Johansson to be in position at the top of the crease to convert and make it 3-2, at 10:16.
DeBrincat became the third on the line to score, firing a shot from just inside the blue line and using Brandseg-Nygard as a screen, but again the momentum was short lived. A furious scramble by the net was saved when John Gibson pushed his right skate against the post, preventing anyone from poking it any further, only for Jesper Bratt to take advantage of a screened Gibson to make it 4-3 at 16:52, a minute and a half after DeBrincat's goals.
Up next
The Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alex DeBrincat's 3 points not enough for Red Wings in OT loss to Devils