Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored his first NHL goal, and John Gibson made 31 saves for the Red Wings (4-1-0).
It was Gibson’s first game since he allowed five goals on 13 shots in Detroit’s season-opening 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9.
“I’ve coached against [Gibson] with three different teams, and that’s the kind of game he gives you,” McLellan said. “Yeah, he gave up five against Montreal, but that was our whole team struggling.”
J.J. Moser scored, and Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for Tampa Bay (1-2-2), which also lost 3-2 in overtime at the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
“I think we definitely deserved a point out of this game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s too bad we didn’t get two, but that’s overtime. A sick chance at one end turns into an even better chance at the other end.
“And that’s a really, really good player going on that breakaway.”
Tampa Bay played without forward Nikita Kucherov, who was a late scratch due to an illness. Kucherov is three points away from becoming the 101st player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points.
Cooper said he didn’t know if Kucherov would be available to play on Saturday at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Sandin-Pellikka, who was playing in his fifth NHL game, scored at 13:02 of the first period to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. With the Red Wings playing at 6-on-5 because of a delayed penalty, Sandin-Pellikka sent a low wrist shot that deflected off Hagel’s skate and bounced past Vasilevskiy.
“It is obviously a dream come true,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “I got a goal, I made some other good plays and we got the win.”