Gustav Nyquist leads the Detroit Red Wings in goals, and his latest was perhaps the most memorable this season by anyone.
Nyquist will try to help the Red Wings to a third consecutive win by scoring in a fifth straight meeting against the slumping Boston Bruins on Monday night (6:30 p.m. pregame, 7 p.m. face-off on FOX Sports Detroit).
Nyquist led Detroit with a career-high 28 goals in only 57 games in 2013-14, and he's on pace to surpass that total with 15 in 36 contests this season.
His latest was by far his most memorable, beating Ottawa's Craig Anderson with 47.6 seconds left in overtime to lift the Red Wings (19-8-9) to a 3-2 win Saturday. Nyquist stick-handled his way around the Senators' zone for nearly 30 seconds, circling the net three times before scoring from the slot to complete a highlight-reel sequence.
"You know you have a little bit more space out there on four-on-four and the other guys did a good job creating space for me and I had a good screen in front," Nyquist said. "It's tough to defend when you have a lot of room and you can protect (the puck) on the outside. I just tried to hold on to it as long as possible to get a good shot off and it worked."
The goal came four days after Nyquist had three assists to help Detroit beat Buffalo 6-3 and end a six-game slide (0-2-4).
He may be vital again against the Bruins (18-15-3), as he's scored a goal in each of his four career meetings, helping Detroit to a 3-0-1 mark in those games.
Nyquist's third-period goal forced overtime and a shootout in the most recent meeting Oct. 15, but he missed his attempt in the tiebreaker in a 3-2 loss.
Detroit has dropped seven of eight games that have gone to shootouts this season, and Nyquist has missed on five of his eight chances.
He's been much more effective on the power play, scoring a team-high eight goals and tallying five of his eight assists. The Red Wings' 33 power-play goals lead the league, and they've gone 6 for 13 over the past three games.
Henrik Zetterberg has six points in four games with half coming on the man advantage - including a goal at Ottawa. The captain has four goals and five assists in his last five visits to Boston.
Detroit is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games against the Bruins, winning three of four at TD Garden.
Boston is struggling defensively during a 4-6-2 stretch, surrendering an average of 3.1 goals compared to 2.4 over the first 24 games. The Bruins had one of their worst performances of the season Saturday, falling 6-2 at Columbus.
"We have proven goals scorers on this team. We have proven All-Stars on this team," said center Chris Kelly, who has six points in six games. "It's not talent that's keeping us from succeeding. It's just a lot of the little things; winning your battles, paying attention to details on a consistent basis."
Tuukka Rask, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, has a 3.10 goals-against average with a 3-4-2 record in his last 10 games. He allowed three goals on 15 shots Saturday after replacing Niklas Svedberg, who did the same and was pulled early in the second period.
Rask is 2-5-1 with a 3.10 GAA against Detroit, but made 18 saves and turned aside both shootout attempts Oct. 15.
