Better to let them learn how to survive playoff pressure on their own, Babcock thought.

With help from an ill-timed penalty by Anaheim’s Sheldon Souray, the Red Wings figured it out and evened the series.

Gustav Nyquist scored a power-play goal at 1:21 of overtime, giving Detroit a 5-4 victory in Game 2 on Thursday night.

Johan Franzen scored two goals, and Damien Brunner had his first Stanley Cup playoff goal and two assists for the Red Wings, who survived their third-period collapse with a timely goal from Nyquist.

“We knew we had to get back to playing hard in the overtime, and we did,” Nyquist said. “We knew the playoffs were on the line.”

Game 3 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Bobby Ryan scored the tying goal with 2:22 left in regulation for the Ducks, who also got goals from captain Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri while erasing Detroit’s 4-1 lead with a phenomenal surge in the final minutes.

But Souray took a slashing penalty in front of his net with 38 seconds left in regulation after an exchange with Justin Abdelkader, and Nyquist was left unchecked in the left faceoff circle for his goal with just 2 seconds remaining on the power play. The 23-year-old Swede from the University of Maine was in his sixth career playoff game.

“I think it’s a great learning experience,” Babcock said. “You’ve got the win, and you stop playing. … You’re not settling them down, you’re putting gas on the fire. What are you going to do about it? You’re hoping your big guys are going to go out there and make a play.”

Ducks fans loudly booed the call against Souray, who joined Anaheim this season after a well-traveled career. He has been among the Ducks’ best defensemen with his booming slap shot and physical two-way play.

“I didn’t really see anything,” Souray said of the final penalty. “It was a tough call. Tough way to end it. We battled back hard. We didn’t start the game and periods as hard as they did, and they capitalized on that.”

Jimmy Howard made 28 saves for Detroit, which silenced the Anaheim crowd with two goals in the first 4:20 of the Red Wings’ third victory in four appearances at Honda Center this season. Abdelkader scored in the opening minute, and Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.

But the Red Wings also lost rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser for the season with a broken thumb.

“He’s done,” Babcock said of DeKeyser, who played a standout game before apparently getting hurt in the third period.

Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots and Saku Koivu scored for the second-seeded Ducks, who struggled through the first two periods before rallying in the hair-raising third. Ryan and Palmieri each had a goal and an assist in the third, and Koivu added an assist.

“When you do come back to tie it, and (then) lose it, (it’s) a little more disappointing,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I was hoping it would get done before overtime, because I knew they would gain their composure again, because the last 10 minutes (of regulation), they lost it. They were fortunate starting (overtime) on the power play, and that was it.”

Until the final period, Detroit had bounced back impressively from the Ducks’ 3-1 series-opening victory. Babcock put veteran Todd Bertuzzi in his lineup for the first time since Feb. 7, replacing Jordin Tootoo, but otherwise kept the same lineup — and the Wings responded with all the poise expected from a team with 22 straight playoff appearances.

While the Wings executed, the Ducks struggled until their electric third-period rally. Game 1 hero Teemu Selanne made an egregious turnover leading to Brunner’s goal, and Getzlaf passed up a breakaway shot in the third period for an ill-advised pass on a play that exemplified the Ducks’ struggles.

But the Ducks rallied when Getzlaf scored on a shot with his back to the net with 12:10 to play. Palmieri then scored his first career playoff goal moments after a power play ended, firing a short shot that Howard missed with his glove with 7:29 left.

Ryan nearly scored with 5 1/2 minutes to play, but his deflection in front just caught the outside post. He didn’t miss on his next chance when Cam Fowler found him driving to the net with a perfect pass for a quick shot past Howard, setting off a deafening celebration.

“I think we finally settled into a pretty good rhythm there,” Ryan said. “We didn’t do enough, though. … We gave them second and third chances to come up with the puck, and they’re a team that capitalizes.”

The Ducks attracted another large, towel-waving crowd to Honda Center after the festive atmosphere in their opener. But many fans weren’t yet in their seats when Abdelkader found space near the blue line and beat Hiller with a deceptive wrist shot just 48 seconds into the game.

Game notes

The 38-year-old Bertuzzi missed nearly three months with back pain and nerve problems affecting his right leg, even forcing him to walk with a cane at times. … The Ducks have won the series all nine times in club history after winning the first game. … Babcock considered putting veteran Mikael Samuelsson back into the lineup but held off. The member of the “Triple Gold Club” — an Olympic gold medal, a world championship and a Stanley Cup title — missed 41 games this season with injuries but is healthy again.

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Make it one blown opportunity for the Bruins to stand alone atop the Northeast Division.

Matt Read and Oliver Lauridsen scored 7 seconds apart to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

The Bruins are second in the Eastern Conference and lead the division. But the Bruins and Montreal both have 59 points. New Jersey beat Montreal 3-2 on Tuesday night. With three games left for Boston, and two for Montreal, the race for second will come down to the final week.

The Bruins are slumping down the stretch, with one win in their past six games.

“That was definitely a step back in our game,” coach Claude Julien said. “Just really poor puck management tonight and poor decision making. To me, that’s a reflection of guys not being ready to play. At some point, they’ve got to take the accountability of being ready.”

Wade Redden and David Krejci had goals for the Bruins.

Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek and Simon Gagne also scored and Steve Mason had 39 saves for the Flyers.

The Flyers paid tribute to Boston in the Bruins’ first road game since the Boston Marathon bombings. The Flyers showed a message on the video board that read, “From One Tough Town to Another.” They also had video images of four blue-yellow ribbons that said, “Boston Strong,” on each faceoff circle.

There was a pregame video set to “Carry On” by Fun that included clips of marathon first responders and other rescue personnel.

Flyers fans stood and cheered, and players from both teams banged their sticks against the boards when the pregame tribute ended.

Then Philadelphia pitched in with its wallets. The 50/50 raffle that usually supports Philadelphia charities went to onefundboston.org. The Flyers raised $85,595. Also, the Flyers were set to put their jerseys up for auction at meigray.com, with proceeds also benefiting onefundboston.org.

“I thought that was a very good presentation, and it’s unbelievable how the United States comes together with tragedies like this,” Read said. “It just shows how strong the United States is, and how closely grouped the Boston area is.”

With fans still on their feet from a stirring rendition of “God Bless America,” Hartnell kept them there with a goal only 1:40 into the game. Hartnell, who missed a month with a broken foot, scored his eighth goal of the season.

Hartnell’s injury was just one of dozens suffered by the Flyers and a big reason why the team missed the playoffs. The Flyers had 11 players scratched for the game, with defenseman Kimmo Timonen joining the list Tuesday. Timonen has a compression fracture in his right foot.

General manager Paul Holmgren said before the game the Flyers could not use injuries as an excuse for underachieving.

“Good teams fight through stuff like this,” Holmgren said. “We just didn’t find a way to fight through it. Is it a factor? Probably. But at the same time, you need to fight through these things. We didn’t.”

Redden tied it late in the first period when he flipped the puck over Steve Mason’s left shoulder. He knocked in Jaromir Jagr’s rebound for his third goal of the season. Jagr played his first game in Philadelphia since he left the team as a free agent over the summer.

Jagr said he had the most fun of his career with the Flyers and wished a deal could have worked out. Holmgren said Jagr rejected a deal in February 2012. By the time free agency started, the Flyers had moved on to other free agents, including an ill-fated pursuit of Nashville defenseman Shea Weber.

The Flyers broke through for good in the second when Read and Lauridsen chased goalie Anton Khudobin.

Read struck first with his 11th goal when he batted in a rebound off Khudobin’s kick save with his left skate. Lauridsen didn’t do much to earn his first NHL goal. Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara tried to clear the puck deep in the zone but somehow the puck slipped past Khudobin and into the net.

Khudobin slammed his stick against the post in anger and was yanked for Tuukka Rask.

Lauridsen sure wasn’t complaining about the goal.

“Why would I be (upset)? I just scored a goal,” he said. “In 20 years, or a week from now, no one is going to ask me how that went in.”

There was little else for the Bruins to celebrate.

“It wasn’t a good effort,” Redden said. “Look at pretty much all their goals against us. There’s plays we need to make better and play harder in certain areas.”

Voracek scored his team-best 21st goal early in the third for a 4-1 lead.

Krejci beat Mason to make it 4-2 and Boston seemingly still had time to rally. But as the goal was still being announced to the fans, Gagne took a perfect cross-ice pass from Claude Giroux and scored for his fifth goal.

“It’s not fun where we are at in the standings,” Gagne said. “There are a lot of high expectations this year, but I think everything you’re doing right, it’s to help management to show what kind of team we have next year with those young players.”

Game notes

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette told Boston, “We stand with you,” in a videotaped message. … The ECHL’s Trenton Titans have ceased operations and the team will not compete in the 2013-2014 season. The Titans were a Flyers’ affiliate.

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