National Hockey League
Detroit 6, Anaheim 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2016
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Referees: Graham Skilliter, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Devin Berg
Attendance: 20027

DETROIT -- Tomas Tatar and his Detroit Red wings teammates really needed a few goals ... and they got them.

Tatar scored three goals for his first career hat trick to lead the Red Wings to a 6-4 come-from-behind win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1)- in which they had scored three goals -- after trailing 3-1 in the second period.

"We knew we weren't good enough the last four games," said Tatar, who was expected to be one of the team's goal-scoring leaders but had only four coming into the game.

"It's perfect timing," Tatar said.

Defenseman Xavier Ouellet had a goal and an assist and Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen also scored for Detroit, which scored its most goals in a game this season. Thomas Vanek had two assists and Petr Mrazek stopped 21 shots.

The Red Wings came into the game last in goals-per-game in the NHL.

"Sure a big relief. It's been a tough stretch here. I think we came out and we played tonight," Nielsen said. "We were skating, we were physical and we were getting pucks deep and we made sure they had to work for everything they got out there. "

Rickard Rakell had two goals, defensemen Shea Theodore and Cam Fowler scored for Anaheim. Ryan Kesler had two assists and Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves before being replaced by John Gibson after two periods. Gibson stopped nine shots.

"We get the two power-play goals, and we're up 2-0, and then we are up 3-1." Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "On the road, you want to take that and run, but they got the momentum and we could never get it back."

Tatar completed his hat trick 4:51 into the third period to give the Red Wings a 5-3 lead. In alone on Gibson, Tatar made a couple of moves and put a forehand shot over Gibson. It was Tatar's seventh goal.

Rakell cut the lead to 5-4 at 6:35 into the third with his second goal of the game. He capitalized on a turnover by Detroit defenseman Dan DeKeyser for Rakell's 14th goal.

Nielsen restored the Red Wings lead to 6-4 with 9:27 left in the third period. He put in a rebound for his seventh goal.

The Red Wings led 4-3 going into the third period after scoring three consecutive goals in the second.

Fowler gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead 5:16 into the second period with his eighth goal of the season.

Tatar's second goal of the game made it 3-2 at 7:14 of the second. His shot from the right circle off the rush went off Fowler's skate, off the backboards and deflected into the net off Bernier and the goal post. It was Tatar's sixth goal.

Mrazek made a big save on Corey Perry's tip attempt with 8:15 left in the middle period and 23 seconds later, Larkin tied the game 3-3. A loose puck deflected off Larkin's skate for his 10th goal.

The goal survived a review from the NHL Situation Room in Toronto to insure the Larkin did not kick the puck in and a challenge from Carlyle that Larkin interfered with Bernier. The sequence of review and challenge took more than six minutes.

Ouellet gave Detroit a 4-3 lead with 2:08 left in the period with his first goal of the season. His one-time shot from the high slot slipped through Bernier.

Said Fowler: "It is certainly frustrating. You have to respond after the other team gets one, and especially after they get two, but we didn't do that."

Two power-play goals gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Rakell got his 13th goal at 3:41 and Theodore made it 2-0 with 9:43 left in the opening period. It was Theodore's first goal of the season.

Tatar got his first goal of the game with 6:27 left in the first.

NOTES: Anaheim G Jonathan Bernier started back-to-back games for the first time this season. He was in goal for Anaheim's 4-3 victory at Boston on Thursday. ... G Petr Mrazek started for Detroit after Jimmy Howard started the past three games. ... The Ducks were without C Nate Thompson (Achilles), D Simon Despres (concussion) and D Clayton Stoner (lower body) because of injuries. ... Injured for the Red Wings were C Darren Helm (upper body), D Brendan Smith (lower body), F Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), LW Justin Abdelkader (lower body) and D Alexey Marchenko (shoulder). ... Anaheim assistant coach Paul MacLean is a former Detroit player and assistant coach.
Top Game Performances
 
Anaheim   Detroit
Rickard Rakell 2 Points Tomas Tatar 3
Rickard Rakell 2 Goals Tomas Tatar 3
Ryan Kesler 2 Assists Anthony Mantha 2
Rickard Rakell 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
John Gibson .818 Save Percentage Petr Mrazek .840
Jonathan Bernier 17 Saves Petr Mrazek 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Anaheim 25 4 2-2 3-3 11 30
Detroit 32 6 0-3 0-2 9 37
Upcoming Games
  • Detroit will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .333 after a loss.
  • Anaheim will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Ducks have a W/L % of .412 after a win and .600 after a loss.