Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek looked unbeatable until late in the third period when Reilly Smith pulled the Florida Panthers even at 1-1, forcing a 3-on-3 overtime period.
Defenceman Brian Campbell found the back of the net just over one minute into the extra frame, sending the Panthers to their second straight win.
Here are three things we learned in the NHL on Sunday.
Red Wings continue dominance in Detroit
The Panthers earned their fifth consecutive win over the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena with Sunday’s 2-1 OT victory.
The last time the Panthers lost a game in Detroit versus the Red Wings in regulation was December 15, 2007. Tomas Vokoun turned away 41 of 46 shots in a losing effort.
Current Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, and Henrik Zetterberg were all in the lineup for Detroit the last time they topped the Panthers on home ice. Their next opportunity comes February 8.
You can’t cough it up to Larkin
Dylan Larkin padded his lead in the rookie goal scoring race with his 10th of the season, with a nice assist from the opposition.
Aleksander Barkov‘s terrible giveaway sent the Red Wings rookie in all alone on Roberto Luongo. He would not miss.
Larkin now has 10 goals and 18 points in 24 games. He currently trails Arizona Coyotes’ Max Domi and Artemi Panarin of the Chicago Blackhawks for the rookie scoring title. He’s also converting on his shots at a cool clip of 15.6 per cent.
Babcock Sparks Maple Leafs’ goaltending situation
James Reimer has emerged as the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ No. 1 goaltender. The 27-year-old is currently nursing a lower-body injury, which forced the club to recall Garret Sparks from Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League to back up Jonathan Bernier Saturday.
Bernier surrendered four goals for the fourth time in his last five stars in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has seen enough.
Babcock informed Sparks that he will make his NHL debut on Monday when the Maple Leafs host the Edmonton Oilers.
Sparks has a 1.90 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage in 11 games with the Marlies this season.
