The Wings made the trip to Brooklyn Friday night for a game against the New York Islanders. The Isles, a team tied for the final wild card spot, are getting amazing seasons out of vets and rookies alike. It would be a tough game for the Wings who are in the midst of a brutal series of games. They just lost to the Bruins and they have the Capitals, Ducks, Preds, and Leafs to look forward to playing. Friday’s game would actually be the easiest they’ll have in a while.

The Wings got off to a quick start as Henrik Zetterberg spotted Anthony Mantha two minutes into the game, sending him in on a breakaway where Mantha used his slick backhand to beat Thomas Greiss.

The team wasn’t done there. They had a solid first period, out-shooting the Isles 14-8. Martin Frk added another goal when he picked up a Tyler Bertuzzi pass in the slot.

I can’t stress how important Tyler Bertuzzi and Luke Glendening were to this goal. Frk let off a beautiful shot, but it’s the forechecking effort, puck recovery by Bertuzzi, and awareness to put it on Frk’s stick that made this one a reality. Detroit would add one more in the first to go to the dressing room with a 3-0 lead. This time, it was their captain who picked up his own rebound and buried it past Greiss.

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

The second period wasn’t as fruitful for the Red Wings, but they continued their solid play, outshooting and out-chancing the Isles at 5v5. The only goal of the period came from Jordan Eberle as he walked in for a shot on Petr Mrazek and beat him five hole.

In the dying seconds of the period, Gustav Nyquist pinched at the blue line and intercepted a Thomas Hickey pass. It sent him and Mantha on a 2-on-0 on Greiss. Nyquist decided to shoot and he almost buried it, but the Wings would go to the room with a 3-1 lead.

The third period was, in a word, wild. There were 8 goals scored, starting with Brock Nelson who brought his team back to within one.

The Wings put some space between them, though, as Frans Nielsen snuck a puck past Greiss and Helm finished the job.

Two minutes later, Niklas Kronwall added another with a rocket from the blueline on the powerplay.

This is where the drama started. On his way back to the bench, Bertuzzi was cross-checked by Cal Clutterbuck. Bert didn’t like it, so he turned around and two-hand slashed Clutterbuck above the knee. It wasn’t a hard slash, and Clutterbuck went down pretty easily, but Bertuzzi should have just walked away. Instead, he was penalized five minutes for slashing and ejected from the game.

The Isles scored four times on the ensuing powerplay, tying the game and taking the lead. Thanks to Eyes on Isles for capturing all of the highlights.

It seemed like that would be it for the Wings, but they somehow managed to tie the game in the final minute and send it to overtime. It was a beautiful slap pass by Zetterberg and Mike Green tipped it in.

Overtime only lasted three minutes before Brock Nelson buried the winner. It was his hat trick goal. The Isles win 7-6.

Detroit should have won this game. The Bertuzzi penalty at the end of the game really killed them. It didn’t deserve to be a major penalty, but it gave the Islanders the space and the confidence to take control and score goals. Four goals on a single powerplay is insane. Bertuzzi should have never taken that penalty. It’s a good lesson for him. Next time, he’ll know to walk away.

11 Red Wings had points tonight, including Mantha with two goals, Zetterberg with a goal and three assists, Green with a goal and an assist, and Kronwall with two assists. Athanasiou and Tatar were two of three forwards who went pointless tonight.

On the Islanders side, Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey each had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson had a hat trick, John Tavares had two assists, and Matthew Barzal had a whopping five points (all assists)!

Tonight’s Motor City MVP is Captain Zetterberg for putting up four big points to keep the Red Wings in this game. His goal was beautiful and full of effort and his assists were smooth and smart. This man continues to impress and will soon be passing Dylan Larkin for points leader on the team.

The Wings will now travel south to Washington D.C. to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon. Game time is 3:00 P.M. ET and you can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit, NBCSWA in the Washington area, and Sportsnet if you’re tuning in from Canada. As always, Brock Seguin will have your pre-game report late Sunday morning to get you ready for the game.