Tampa — One more, just one more game before the Red Wings’ regular season comes to a merciful end.
Give them credit, they worked hard Tuesday, they roared back in the third period to force overtime, but Nikita Kucherov scored 27 seconds into overtime, Kucherov’s 44th goal, giving Tampa a 4-3 victory over the Wings.
“They were prepared and willing to play from minute one on through,” coach Todd McLellan said. “If it wasn’t there, you wouldn’t see us come back. I give them credit for competing hard until the end.
“I’m not going to sit here and say the guys were all piss and vinegar this morning. You have to play out the schedule. There’s always concern are guys going to just play safe but they were competitive and I give them credit for that.
“When you’re in the thick of it and playing for your lives, the intensity is different and pressure is different than when you have six periods of hockey left.”
Kane says he’ll be back next year, somewhere
Patrick Kane earned point No. 1,400 in his career assisting on Alex DeBrincat’s game-tying goal at 15:16 of the third period. Kane stole the puck at the blue-line, raced down on a 2-on-0 and fed DeBrincat for the easy tap-in, DeBrincat’s 41st goal, tying a career-high and tying the game, 3-3.
Kane, 37, and a potential unrestricted free agent, said he will be playing hockey next season somewhere, be it in Detroit or elsewhere.
“I’ll definitely be playing,” Kane said. “There’s more in the tank and I’m excited to see what that level can be I’ll definitely be playing next year.”
Kane has 24 points in the last 21 games, one of the few Wings to be an offensive impact player in the final month as the Wings collapsed.
“I’ve had a good finish to the season,” Kane said. “I had a good start but an injury kind of took a little bit to find my game, and after that, I was palying well and another injury and it took a little while to get back after that. But I’m happy with the way I’ve finished,, especially after the Olympic break.
“I feel good and feel like there’s still gas in the tank.”
Kasper: ‘We have to build something here’
Marco Kasper’s ninth goal at 2:56 of the third period cut Tampa’s lead to 3-2. Kasper, in front of the net, slipped a loose puck past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Tampa’s Erik Cernak (third goal, 15:53) and Jake Guentzel (29th, 18:03) broke a 1-1 tie with two quick goals late in the second period.
David Perron scored the game’s first goal, but Tampa scored the next three goals to take command.
BOX SCORE: Lightning 4, Red Wings 3 (OT)
Goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 18 shots.
But the way the Wings (41-30-10, 92 points) rallied and grinded in the third period was a good sign this team isn’t going to skate through these final two games.
“The way the last few weeks have been, no playoffs this year, but we have to build something here and we can’t get down on ourselves,” Kasper said. “We have to play hard every game. We have to get out there and feel good for ourselves. We came back from two goals down and just tried to play hard and tried to get a win.
“That’s why you play hockey, to try to win every game.”
Wings have just three wins in last 11 games
The Wings (41-31-10, 92 points) have only won three of their last 11 games (3-6-2), a key reason they are where they are in the standings.
“We had four or five games where we could have gotten points and you don’t get any, so those games cost you,” Kane said. “It’s not just one game here or there, it’s multiple games and it hurt us when you don’t get points.”
Perron scored his 13th goal, third with the Wings, one-timing a feed from Lucas Raymond across the slot at 5:31 of the first period.
The Wings appeared to take a 2-0 lead on Simon Edvinsson’s goal, but Tampa challenged for goaltender interference, and officials agreed, taking Edvinsson’s goal off the boards.
The Lightning got a spark from the call, and Conor Geekie’s first goal of the season, on a breakaway, tied the game at 17:05.
Tampa would take the two-goal lead in the second period, only to see the Wings battle back.
“We showed up against a good hockey team,” Kane said. “It was a real good performance. Talbs was great. Everyone was professional, I’m happy with the group.”
The Wings close out the season Wednesday in Florida.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Same old Wings: Detroit ‘competitive’ but lose to Lightning in OT
Reporting by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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