Red Wings rookie Postava stuns Oilers with shootout win in NHL debut

EDMONTON · Michal Postava made 25 saves and stopped three Edmonton Oilers stars in a shootout to win his first NHL start, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory on Monday night. The 24-year-old undrafted goaltender from Czechia, appearing in his second career game, thwarted Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the shootout after robbing Evan Bouchard twice in overtime. Lucas Raymond scored the only shootout goal for the Red Wings, who went 2-1-1 on their four-game road trip. "It's amazing, I feel like a kid," Postava said after the game. "I watched all those NHL games when I was young and I didn't expect to one day be in the net and win the game. Now, I'm just so happy."

Raymond also had two assists in regulation for Detroit, while Viktor Arvidsson, Emmitt Finnie and Dylan Larkin scored. Larkin tied the game 3-3 with just 1:17 remaining in the third period and the Red Wings' goalie pulled, shovelling in his second goal of the season to force overtime. Vasily Podkolzin, Isaac Howard and Colton Dach replied for the Oilers, who lost their second straight game and also lost forward Zach Hyman to a suspected concussion. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for Edmonton.

Postava's performance was the talk of the night, particularly his work against Edmonton's elite shooters. "He's solid," said Nugent-Hopkins, who was stopped in the shootout. "I thought he was good positionally and always there. Even in the shootout, I saw both Connor and Leo deke, and he stuck with it. I tried to beat him with a shot and he was right there." Postava called the experience of beating McDavid and Draisaitl "crazy." "You look at how many points they have so far, they're two of the best players in the world right now," he said. "Maybe it was more amazing for me to win."

The Oilers held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but could not close out the game. Their top line's only production came from a pass that caromed off Podkolzin's foot and into the net, but the team found goals from its depth players. Howard scored his first of the season on the power play, and Dach deflected a Ryan Shea shot for the go-ahead goal in the third period. "When you have the players that you do on the first line, they're going to have it every night. It's up to us to kind of hold our own," said Shea. "We need depth scoring. Every team that's gone far in the playoffs or is good in this league has a second through fourth line that can do damage. I think it's a great sign."

With files from The Canadian Press, Sportsnet and The Globe and Mail