Red Wings rally from 4-0 deficit, stun Penguins 5-4 in OT

Pittsburgh − The Red Wings looked like a hockey team that had not played a game in a week early in Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But gradually they found their legs, competed harder, and eventually rallied for a stirring 5-4 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Jake Walman won it in overtime, his second goal, capping an odd-man Wings' rush at 2 minutes, 13 seconds of overtime.

Walman punctuated the goal and comeback doing The Gritty, delighting teammates and surely Wings fans everywhere with his dance move.

"I was able to get the full Gritty," said Walman, who felt it was better than after he scored his first goal earlier this season in San Jose. "I was lagging at the beginning."

Most importantly, Walman's goal ended a spirited Wings' comeback.

"That was a great game," Walman said. "The boys showed a lot of resilience. We knew it wasn't good enough after the first period, but we dialed it in after that period."

The Wings (15-11-7) won their second consecutive game after a six-game winless streak, after spotting Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Dylan Larkin (power play) and Joe Veleno had second-period goals for the Wings, and Jonatan Berggren and David Perron (power play) scored third-period goals, tying the game 4-4 and forcing overtime.

"We had a good talk after one and we responded," Perron said. "We felt we could build our game and if anything, take it into (Buffalo Thursday). We found a way and after we got that second goal, the belief got bigger and bigger that we could make it a game.

"We found a way and it was great."

Jason Zucker had two goals (one a power play), while Jeff Carter (power play) and Drew O'Connor had the other Penguins goals.

But the Penguins were the arguably the second best team on the ice over the last two periods and overtime.

"We left some missed opportunities with our compete in the first period and it got us in a big hole," coach Derek Lalonde said. "We were much better, we were excellent in the second and third (periods). It was a real good response to a bad period and we got what we deserved, and that's a full two points.

BOX SCORE: Red Wings 5, Penguins 4 (OT)

Berggren scored his fifth goal, at the 15-minute mark, putting a loose puck past goaltender Casey DeSmith.

Perron then tied it 4-4 with his 12th goal, burying a quality chance on the power play from the dot.

Lalonde replaced goaltender Ville Husso (eight saves on 12 shots) with Magnus Hellberg (19 saves ) after Pittsburgh's four-goal, first-period outburst.

More:Wings notes: Husso thriving, comfortable handling heavy goaltending workload

Hellberg was steady in relief and gives Lalonde an interesting option for Thursday's game in Buffalo. Lalonde said the plan was to start Hellberg in Buffalo, but with Husso's short workload Wednesday, starting Husso is an option.

Still, Hellberg was a factor in Wednesday's victory also. Hellberg stopped Sidney Crosby on a breakaway early in the second period, then made a big stop in overtime that led to Walman scoring the game-winning goal.

"He was excellent on the big save on Crosby, and his best hockey was when he came up big in the last couple minutes of regulation," said Lalonde, of a Penguins' late push in the waning minutes. "He makes the saves in OT that gives us the transition to finish the game off. The guys wanted to play well for Magnus. He hasn't played a lot of hockey lately, not much in the NHL, and they did a good job elevating their compete."

Larkin cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-1 with his 13th goal, at 7:17 of the second period.

Lucas Raymond's shot off the end boards rebounded to Larkin in the slot, who flipped a shot past DeSmith to start the comeback.

The Wings sliced the lead to 4-2 on Veleno's fifth goal.

Ben Chiarot worked the puck down from the point and fed Veleno between the hashmarks. Veleno snapped a shot past DeSmith, at 14:32, giving the Wings further momentum.

"There were two games tonight," Larkin said. "The first (period) and the second and third (periods) for us, and the second and third was some of the best hockey we've played all year."

O'Connor opened the Penguins' scoring at 2:36 of the first period.

Kasperi Kapanen skated freely in the Wings' zone and found O'Connor roaring down wing, and O'Connor snapped a shot past Husso for his first goal.

Carter made it 2-0 on the power play at 10:15.

Kapanen again was the set-up man, gathering the puck in the corner and slipping out, then finding Carter in the slot for Carter's fifth goal but only his second in 16 games.

The Penguins weren't done yet in the period.

Zucker intercepted a Filip Hronek pass along the board and drove to the net, then slipped a backhander past Husso at 14:15, making it 3-0.

Zucker then capped the barrage with his second of the period and eighth of the season in the waning moments.

Zucker got his stick on a loose puck bobbling in the crease, during a fierce scramble in front of Husso, and poked the puck into the net (video had to confirm it) at 19:27, giving Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead.

"We weren't awful, we weren't 4-0 bad, we just left some compete plays out there," Lalonde said. "We were much better (the rest of the game) and we got what we deserved (a victory)."

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan