Tyler Bertuzzi snapped a tie in the third period.
DETROIT – This time, the Detroit Red Wings generated enough offense to capitalize on a strong goaltending performance.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Jonathan Ericsson scored goals to snap a tie in the third period and Jonathan Bernier made 28 saves Sunday as the Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2 for their first victory this season at Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings (2-7-2) had dropped their first four at home (1-3-1), scoring only seven goals in the process and wasting strong efforts the past two games from Jimmy Howard. The Stars are 0-3 on the road and 5-5-0 overall.
“Over the course of the last number of years, not just this year, we haven’t won enough at home,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said before the game. “We understand the urgency of that, it’s really hard to go on runs on the road. It’s much easier to go on a run at home and we have to do a better job of that.
“We have to do everything we can to do a better job of getting the fans’ butts in the seats by giving them more to cheer about.”
Tied 1-1, the Red Wing got a huge break when Niklas Kronwall’s dump-in took an unexpected bounce off the glass. Stars goalie Ben Bishop went behind the net in anticipation of playing the puck, but it rolled in front. Bertuzzi raced in and chipped it into an open net for his third goal of the season at 4:59.
Ericsson scored at 9:20 on a wrist shot from the point through heavy traffic as Anthony Mantha and Thomas Vanek provided net presence. It was his first goal.
Radek Faksa cut Detroit’s lead to 3-2 with 36.3 seconds remaining in regulation, deflecting in a shot by John Klingberg. But Justin Abdelkader’s empty-net goal with 23.9 seconds to play sealed the outcome.
Mantha tied it at 1-1 at 4:44 of the second period on a shot from the side of the net. It was just his second goal of the season (the first came on a pass that deflected in off a defender in Los Angeles on Oct. 7.
The Stars struck first, when Gemel Smith fired in a shot from the slot off the rush at 11:44 of the first period.
The Red Wings appeared to have opened the scoring at 7:57 on a goal by Mantha. But a review showed Mantha knocked the puck into the net with distinct kicking motion.
The Red Wings couldn’t capitalize on a pair of early power plays. Their best opportunity was Frans Nielsen’s shot that hit the crossbar.
This was Bernier’s first appearance since Oct. 15 in Montreal, when he played the final 35 minutes in relief of Jimmy Howard in a 7-3 loss.
Bishop entered the game with a 13-4-0 career record and 1.93 goals-against average against the Red Wings, having most of that success while playing for Tampa Bay.
