Red Wings' slim playoff hopes still alive after Kasper's OT goal vs. Lightning

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News on Apr 11, 2025

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — The Red Wings needed a victory to stay alive and the rookie saved them.

Marco Kasper had two goals and an assist, including the overtime winner at 3 minutes, 20 seconds, giving the Wings a 4-3 victory over Tampa.

Kasper drove in from the wing against a tired group of Lightning skaters and beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for the second time Friday, Kasper's 18th goal.

Kasper tied the game 3-3 with his 17th goal at 12:59, off a Tampa turnover. Alex DeBrincat had the puck on a two-on-one rush and found Kasper across the slot, who whistled a shot off the post and past Vasilevskiy.

With Montreal losing 5-2 in Ottawa, the Wings stay alive in the playoffs, six points behind Montreal with three games remaining for each team. One point that the Wings lose, or one point earned by Montreal, eliminates the Wings.

Goaltender Alex Lyon, making his first appearance in seven games, stopped 23 shots.

Gage Goncalves scored his second goal of the game, at 1 minute, 38 seconds of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Brandon Hagel skated up wing and found Goncalves unspoken for down the middle of the ice. Goncalves received the pass, went in alone on Lyon, and scored his eighth goal.

Patrick Kane and Tyler Motte had the Wings' goals. Anthony Cirelli opened the scoring for Tampa.

Goncalves tied it 2-2 late in the second period, shortly after Motte gave the Wings a short-lived lead. Hagel lifted a long shot toward Lyon that bounced and the goaltender couldn't control. Goncalves got the puck and nudged it past Lyon at 17:52.

Motte had given the Wings a 2-1 lead, a little over a minute before. Justin Holl's shot went high off the end board and bounded off Vasilevskiy's back. The puck dropped into the crease where Motte raced to the net and tipped the puck into the net for his fourth goal, at 16:37.

Tampa took a 1-0 lead into the second period on a goal by Cirelli, on a start that was anything but how the Wings wanted to begin.

Just 61 seconds into the game, Cirelli split Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson and went on a partial breakaway on Lyon, producing his 27th goal on the game's first shot.

The Wings had the lone power play of the first period, but didn't convert.

Kane tied the game with his 21st goal, in the second period. Kasper held the puck near the post and dished a nice feed to Kane, who was racing into the slot. Kane calmly beat Vasilevskiy at 4:07, tying the game.

Kane, the Wings' Masterton Trophy nominee for his perseverance and dedication for hockey, has been the Wings' leading scorer since Christmas.

Coach Todd McLellan talked this week about the veteran influence Kane has on the Wings, especially the younger players.

"When Patty Kane is in the locker room ... he's not the head cheerleader," McLellan said. "He's not driving the team that way. But his presence and the fact he's gone through all these situations in the past certainly helps.

"He's been in this situation during the regular season as that Chicago team was evolving and they didn't quite get there. He's been in this situation during the playoffs and it didn't quite work out. He's been in this situation when he's won a Stanley Cup and sealing the deal, so he's got it from beginning to end.

"I would think the guys like Kasper and (Elmer) Soderblom and the youth that is just experiencing this for the first time are quizzing him and asking questions like 'What did Jonathan Toews do in those situations'? That's where his value is off the ice. On the ice, it's his presence and the way he makes plays and the power play with the poise with the puck."

McLellan said earlier in the week the Wings had basically given up control of their destiny in the playoff chase, and all they could do was continue to win and hope.

"We can't control what other teams are doing or count on Montreal to help us," McLellan said. "When you give up control, you're at the mercy of anything. The Red Wings saw that last year more than anything (the Wings lost out on a playoff berth on a tiebreaker, although winning the last three games). We've built up a belief system and it's been tested a lot of times down the stretch a lot of times here and I'm sure it'll be tested again."