March Madness on ice? Red Wings’ Jake Walman nets game-winning buzzer beater vs. Hurricanes

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman got into the march spirit with a game-winning buzzer-beater against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Walman’s slap from inside the blue line slipped behind Canes goalkeeper Federik Andersen as players from both teams battled for position in front of the box.

The Wings are currently seventh in the Atlantic division and unlikely to make the playoffs, but Detroit coach Derek Lalonde praised his players after the win for their continued focus amid a difficult season.

“This group hasn’t quit all year and I don’t expect them to now,” Lalonde said.

Dominik Kubalik and captain Dylan Larkin also scored for the Red Wings and Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves to beat his former team.

Kubalik scored 59 seconds into the game and Larkin hit a power play at 7:26 of the second. Larkin extended his team’s lead in goals with 28 and power-play goals with 15.

Carolina defense teammates Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin scored from 3:36 apart in the second, at 42 seconds and 4:18.

Andersen made 19 saves in his first loss against Detroit. He entered the game 10-0-1 against the Red Wings.

It was a costly loss for the Canes, who hold a slim one-point lead over second-place New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division.

And speaking of the Devils, Erik Haula and Timo Meier scored and Vitek Vanecek made three big saves in the third quarter to lead New Jersey past New York on Thursday in Newark.

Vanecek finished with 24 saves as the Devils won the season series 3-1 and opened up a four-point lead over the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division with two weeks remaining in the season. He stopped Vincent Trocheck from close range twice and Vladimir Tarasenko in the final 12 minutes to earn his 30th win.