The Detroit Red Wings rebounded from Monday afternoon’s setback against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 3-2 overtime victory on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena over the same opponent.
Tyler Bertuzzi deflected the rebound of captain Dylan Larkin‘s shot off goaltender Elvis Merzlikins just 15 seconds into the extra frame, giving Detroit the additional point and improving their record to 2-2 on the young season.
For Bertuzzi, it was his 50th career goal.
“I thought we played a really good 60 minutes, and I thought we really deserved that win,” Bertuzzi said afterwards. “Everyone was battling and making smart plays and just trying to drive the net; obviously it went off my body and in.”
“Everyone needed to be better and we proved it tonight. We went out and competed and did the right things, and got rewarded for doing it the right way.”
The Red Wings had yet to score on the man-advantage, having gone 0-6 so far on power play opportunities. That changed in the 2nd period of Tuesday night when Anthony Mantha fired the puck past Merzlikins, tying the score 1-1.
For Bertuzzi and the rest of his teammates, they were able to keep their composure despite giving up the first goal of the game.
“We’re not getting down, we have to keep our composure on the bench,” he explained. “The next shift needs to be hard, and we didn’t get down; we did it the right way.”
“Everyone’s buying into the system and doing it the right way.”
Detroit will be back in action on Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks from the Windy City.
– – Quotes via Fox Sports Detroit Link – –
