DETROIT — If the Red Wings are going to make the playoffs a realistic possibility, they have to defeat teams lower than them in the standings.
They haven't always done that this season, but did Tuesday, defeating lowly San Jose, 3-2 in overtime.
Andrew Copp scored his fifth goal, batting in a loose puck at 25 seconds into overtime, giving the Wings (20-18-8) the win.
Goaltender Ville Husso stopped 26 shots to earn the victory.
Adam Erne and Michael Rasmussen scored second-period goals for the Wings, while Timo Meier and Logan Couture answered for the Sharks.
The Wings travel to Montreal on Thursday and the New York Islanders on Friday, before embarking on a week-long All-Star break.
After a scoreless, relatively uneventful opening 20 minutes, the teams broke the game open in the middle period.
Erne opened the game's scoring with his sixth goal, early in the second period.
Dylan Larkin whipped a shot from the high slot that Erne got his stick on and deflected past goaltender James Reimer at 2:17. The assist was the 400th career point for Larkin.
But the Sharks answered with Meier's 28th goal.
Meier got the puck near the post after Erik Karlsson's shot, wrapped around the net, and banked the puck past Husso at 7:58.
Rasmussen regained the lead, 2-1, for the Wings.
Rasmussen was leveled along the boards entering the zone, but got up, got into the slot, and in one motion wristed a pass from Jordan Oesterle for his eighth goal, at 16:29.
But the Sharks answered again, in the waning seconds of the second period.
San Jose had a strong shift, peppering Husso and forcing a long shift out of Moritz Seider and Jake Walman, and Couture finally converted with eight seconds left, snapping a rebound off Karlsson's shot for Couture's 17th goal.
Karlsson had four points against the Wings earlier in the season, a game the Wings won, 7-4. The Wings held Karlsson to two points this time, but the veteran defenseman was no less dominating during his monstrous, resurgent season.
"The offense, it's world-class," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said of what has stood out from Karlsson this season (64 points in 49 games). "When you address him in the offensive zone, and he still had four points that game (against the Wings), we were fortunate to win and I know it's a cliche, but you just hope to contain him. Like any good offensive guys, you need to check them and not give them space an opportunity and try to limit those."
The Wings spent the majority of Monday's practice with drills of getting to the net and creating offense from the tough areas on the ice.
Tuesday's game was a step forward in that area.
"It was all about getting to the inside and getting to the hard areas," Lalonde said of the message, after Tuesday's morning skate. "Last time we played (San Jose) we scored seven against them but there were a couple of hard area goals there. We're not built to be an offensive juggernaut, which is fine. But there's our offense has stalled, offense has been hard (to come by), and this opponent, any opponent, being harder in those areas, harder on goalies, getting ugly goals (is important) when your offense is struggling."
Lalonde has liked the way the Wings have committed to better team defense especially the last several games, with the offense not clicking.
"We're defending way better, way more committed to defending correctly," Lalonde said. "I'd like to call it winning hockey, and the frustrating thing is, it isn't always transferring to results. But our last two games, against Vegas and Philadelphia, we literally allow seven or eight chances against, and that's unheard of. We did that once a year in Tampa (where Lalonde was an assistant coach).
"With that said, we don't generate a ton (offensively) both of those games, but it's the way it's going to look and our guys are buying into that and committed to it."
