Larkin Saves Detroit With 77 Seconds Left — Postava Stuns Oilers in First Start
GOATIFYFor 58 minutes and 43 seconds, the Edmonton Oilers had enough to beat Detroit. Then Dylan Larkin scored with the Red Wings' net empty, Lucas Raymond finished the shootout and a 24-year-old goaltender making his first NHL start walked away with the biggest result of his young career.
Detroit's 4–3 shootout victory on October 26 was more than an improbable ending. Michal Postava faced one of the league's most explosive attacks, made 25 saves and denied all three Edmonton shooters in the tiebreaker. Raymond supplied two assists before scoring the decisive shootout attempt. Emmitt Finnie and Viktor Arvidsson also scored in regulation, giving Detroit the sort of collective response it has needed from an unsettled opening month.
Edmonton still earned a point and remained at the top end of the Pacific Division. Yet a team capable of scoring in waves again found that generating offense and controlling the final minutes are two different things. Detroit's comeback exposed that distinction with brutal clarity.
Larkin's equalizer turned a lost game into a statement
Colton Dach's goal with 3:28 left in the third period seemed to have restored the natural order. Edmonton had retaken a 3–2 lead after Detroit twice worked its way back, and the clock was now on the Oilers' side. A team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl does not usually need many invitations to close out a home game from that position.
Detroit refused to treat the scoreboard as the final word. With Michal Postava pulled for an extra attacker, the Red Wings committed to the six-on-five sequence that so often looks desperate until it works. Larkin delivered the equalizer with 1:17 remaining, wiping out Edmonton's late advantage and forcing overtime. That single play changed the value of everything Detroit had done before it: the earlier goals mattered again, Postava's saves mattered again, and the trip could end with two points rather than a frustrating near-miss.
There was also a meaningful contrast with Detroit's recent shootout loss in Seattle. The Red Wings had previously erased a three-goal third-period deficit against the Kraken, only to lose the tiebreaker. This time the late comeback had a finishing move. It was not a perfect road performance, and the team again needed a dramatic rescue, but the ability to produce one when the margin for error disappeared was real.
Larkin's timing mattered more than any sweeping claim about momentum. A goal scored in the opening ten minutes can be answered repeatedly; a goal scored with 77 seconds left forces the opponent to rethink its entire final sequence. Detroit made Edmonton defend under pressure when the Oilers expected to be managing the puck and protecting a lead. The psychological reversal was immediate, but it was created by execution rather than emotion alone.
The manner of the goal also gives Detroit something tangible to study. Six-on-five offense is a repeatable skill only when entries, puck recovery and net-front movement work together. The Red Wings did not merely benefit from a fortunate bounce at the buzzer; they created one more scoring opportunity when the opposition had every reason to know what was coming. Coaches will want to see the same commitment before games reach emergency mode. Still, the ability to remain organized under a ticking clock is a useful sign for a group that has already experienced several narrow finishes this month.
Finnie and Arvidsson kept Detroit close enough to strike
Detroit's late heroics would have been irrelevant without the less glamorous work of staying in the contest. Vasily Podkolzin opened the scoring for Edmonton with his eighth goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson answered on a second-period power play, giving Detroit a way back against an opponent that had entered the night averaging more than four goals per game.
Edmonton regained control when Isaac Howard struck early in the third, but Emmitt Finnie responded just 30 seconds later. That sequence was important because the Oilers never got a sustained period to settle into their advantage. A quick answer can do more than tie a game: it prevents a talented offensive team from using its lead to dictate matchups and pace. Finnie's finish forced the hosts to keep playing an open contest instead of simply defending a cushion.
Arvidsson added an assist to his goal, while Raymond finished with two helpers in regulation. Those contributions illustrated the difference between an attack built around a single rescuer and one that can survive multiple swings. Detroit still depends heavily on its leading creators, but secondary scoring and a functioning power play made it possible for Larkin to deliver the late equalizer rather than merely make the score respectable.
The bigger question is repeatability. A team cannot expect to concede three goals and escape with a shootout win every night. It can, however, build a more durable identity around responses like Finnie's, particularly when its younger players are trusted with important minutes. Detroit's four-game trip ended 2–1–1. That is not an overwhelming record, but it represents a meaningful return from a difficult western swing, and this victory supplied the strongest closing argument.
Postava's first start became a genuine goaltending audition
Michal Postava was not handed an easy first NHL start. Edmonton arrived with McDavid, Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard at the top of the league's early scoring lists, and its offense had been producing 4.36 goals per game before facing Detroit. For a young goaltender, that is closer to an examination under floodlights than a gentle introduction.
Postava made 25 saves during the game and then stopped all three Edmonton attempts in the shootout. Raymond converted Detroit's decisive try. The rookie's performance should not be reduced to the tiebreaker alone: he kept the Red Wings within reach long enough for the skaters to manufacture a comeback. At the same time, the result should not be exaggerated into proof that the club has discovered a permanent No. 1 goalie. One start, however memorable, is still one start.
There is genuine evidence behind the opportunity. Before his call-up, Postava had opened the AHL season 4–0–0 with Grand Rapids, a 1.25 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage. He had also made seven saves in relief during Detroit's October 22 victory in Vancouver after John Gibson exited. The organization already had reasons to believe he could handle the pace; the Edmonton result gave those reasons a far more visible stage.
Detroit's goaltending situation has been fluid, with Gibson briefly leaving the Vancouver game and Daniil Tarasov unavailable around the call-up. Postava's next assignment will therefore matter as much as his first. Coaches must judge positioning, rebound control, workload and consistency, not just a perfect shootout ledger. For now, he has earned something every emerging goaltender wants: a credible argument for another look.
There is a development angle as well as a standings angle. Postava's route from an undrafted signing and the Czech professional game to Grand Rapids and then an NHL shootout against Edmonton is unusual enough to deserve attention. It shows why a strong minor-league record can earn a player an opportunity even when the depth chart appears settled. The next test will be how he responds when opponents have more video on his tendencies, particularly on second chances and lateral puck movement. Detroit should enjoy the debut without allowing one night to replace a longer evaluation.
Edmonton's scoring power still masks a closing-game problem
The Oilers did not leave empty-handed. They earned a standings point and, despite the shootout defeat, moved a point ahead of Vegas in the Pacific Division. That matters in an 84-game season. But a home team that leads with fewer than four minutes remaining expects more than the consolation point, particularly when its offense is capable of putting games out of reach.
Edmonton's problem is not a shortage of stars. McDavid entered the matchup with 33 points through 11 games, Draisaitl had 23 and Bouchard 21. The Oilers had scored at an NHL-leading rate, yet they were also allowing 3.55 goals per game, a figure that left them near the bottom of the league defensively. Those numbers are not a verdict on a season in October, but they explain why opponents continue to believe a comeback is possible.
The final minutes against Detroit showed the practical cost. Dach restored the lead, but the Oilers could not protect the dangerous areas during the six-on-five sequence that ended with Larkin's equalizer. Tristan Jarry finished with 26 saves; the outcome should not be assigned to him alone. Closing a game involves the five skaters in front of the goaltender, decisions along the boards, clears under pressure and an understanding of when not to chase another scoring chance.
Edmonton can still overwhelm opponents when its top players get room to operate. The challenge is developing the defensive habits that allow the team to win less spectacular games as well. Detroit supplied a sharp reminder that a lead is only an asset if it can be protected. For the Red Wings, this was a road win built on persistence and a rookie's composure. For the Oilers, it was a point gained and another opportunity to study why a winnable game slipped away.
Detroit will remember the last 77 seconds of regulation and the three shootout saves. The more useful lesson is broader: Larkin, Finnie, Arvidsson, Raymond and Postava each contributed at a different pressure point. A team still searching for consistency found several ways to stay alive in one difficult night.
Edmonton remains dangerous enough to beat anyone, but its next step is making leads feel as secure as its offense looks. Detroit left Rogers Place with two points. The Oilers were left with one, and a question their extraordinary scoring totals cannot answer for them.
