This latest defeat adds to a growing list of frustrating losses for the Red Wings, one that will linger after a hard-fought effort that ultimately came up short.

Detroit stormed back from a three-goal deficit in the third period on Sunday, but the rally fell just short in a 5–4 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Kirill Kaprizov’s third goal of the night—his 43rd of the season—came at 18:09 of the third period and stood as the game-winner. His power-play one-timer, set up after a Patrick Kane tripping penalty, dashed Detroit’s hopes of completing a dramatic comeback.

Kane had briefly tied the game at 4–4 with his 15th goal at 14:36, capping the surge. He slipped into space in front and finished a crisp feed from Alex DeBrincat to even the score.

Earlier in the period, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and J.T. Compher helped spark the rally, cutting into what had been a 4–1 deficit. Sandin-Pellikka scored his seventh at 7:18 with a long-range shot that Gustavsson never saw through traffic, while Compher tipped in a pass from Simon Edvinsson for his 11th, tightening the game and setting the stage for the late push.

The Red Wings wasted no time striking. Just 1:40 in, Albert Johansson fired a shot from the left circle that rang off the far post and in, giving Detroit an early 1–0 lead.

The opening frame was tightly contested and defensive in nature, with both sides generating limited offense. Through 18 minutes, the teams combined for just eight shots on goal—five for Minnesota and three for Detroit.

Detroit scored on its first shot of the opening frame, but Minnesota matched that efficiency in the second. Matt Boldy forced a turnover at center ice, stripping Simon Edvinsson before driving down the right wing and beating Cam Talbot to tie the game at one.

Just 1:07 later, Kaprizov redirected a Mats Zuccarello shot off his shin pad to give the Wild the lead. On the ensuing sequence, Danila Turov was penalized for a series of right hands to Marco Kasper after the whistle, sending Detroit to the power play.

After failing to convert, Minnesota went to the man advantage when Sandin-Pellikka was called for slashing Quinn Hughes on the right hand as he drove to the net.

The Wild didn’t score on that power play, but they extended the lead at 7:03. Jake Middleton sent a cross-ice feed that deflected off Johansson, and Vladimir Tarasenko still managed to get a stick on it at the top of the right circle, snapping a tough-angle wrister past Talbot to make it 3–1.

Kaprizov added his second—and the Wild’s fourth—at 7:28 after another turnover at center ice. The puck trickled back as he exited the bench, and he broke in alone to beat Talbot on the breakaway, pushing the lead to 4–1.

Sandin-Pellikka helped spark life into Detroit’s comeback. After a drop pass from Dylan Larkin at the blue line, the recently recalled defenseman fired a shot through traffic that beat Gustavsson to cut the deficit to two.

The push continued as Compher made it 4–3 at 8:46, redirecting a pass from Edvinsson following a chip-and-chase play initiated by Marco Kasper behind the net.

The rally was completed at 5:24 when DeBrincat found Kane, who lifted a backhand over Gustavsson’s glove to tie the game at 4. The sequence began with Emmitt Finnie moving the puck out of the defensive zone to Alex Copp, who set up DeBrincat for the final pass to Kane. It was a clean tic-tac-toe play that brought the Red Wings all the way back.

But the momentum was short-lived. A late penalty on Kane opened the door for Minnesota, and Kaprizov made them pay, completing his hat trick with a blistering one-timer from the right circle on the power play to restore the lead. That goal proved decisive, as the Wild closed out the game and secured the win.