Detroit Red Wings Schedule/Results - 2009-10

Detroit Red Wings Schedule - 2009-10

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__Date____	__ Opponent__	_Time/Score_
Oct. 2	St. Louis	Lose 3-4
Oct. 3	at St. Louis	Lose 3-5
Oct. 8	Chicago	Win 3-2
Oct. 10	Washington	Win 3-2
Oct. 13	at Buffalo	Lose 2-6
Oct. 15	Los Angeles	Win 5-2
Oct. 17	Colorado	Lose 3-4 SO
Oct. 22	at Phoenix	Lose 2-3 OT
Oct. 24	at Colorado	Lose 1-3
Oct. 27	at Vancouver	Win 5-4
Oct. 29	at Edmonton	Lose 5-6 SO
Oct. 31	at Calgary	Win 3-1
Nov. 3	Boston	Win 2-0
Nov. 5	San Jose	Win 2-1 SO
Nov. 7	at Toronto	Lose 1-5
Nov. 11	at Columbus	WIN 9-1
Nov. 12	Vancouver	WIN 3-1
Nov. 14	Anaheim	WIN 7-4
Nov. 18	Dallas	Lose 1-3
Nov. 20	Florida	Lose 1-2 OT
Nov. 21	at Montreal	WIN 3-2 SO
Nov. 23	at Nashville	Lose 1-3
Nov. 25	Atlanta	Lose 0-2
Nov. 27	Calgary	Lose 0-3
Nov. 28	at St. Louis	WIN 4-3 SO
Nov. 30	Dallas	WIN 4-1
Dec. 3	Edmonton	Lose 1-4
Dec. 5	at New Jersey	Lose 3-4 SO
Dec. 6	at NY Rangers	WIN 3-1
Dec. 9	St. Louis	Lose 0-1
Dec. 11	Anaheim	WIN 3-2 OT
Dec. 12	at Nashville	WIN 3-2 OT
Dec. 14	Phoenix	WIN 3-2
Dec. 17	Tampa Bay	WIN 3-0
Dec. 19	at Dallas	Lose 3-4
Dec. 20	at Chicago	Lose 0-3
Dec. 23	Chicago	Lose 0-3
Dec. 26	Columbus	WIN 2-1
Dec. 28	at Columbus	Lose 0-1 OT
Dec. 31	Colorado	WIN 4-2
Jan. 2	at Phoenix	WIN 4-1
Jan. 5	at Anaheim	Lose 1-4

Detroit Red Wings Schedule - 2009-10
Win-Lose-OvertimeLoss = 44-24-14
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__Date____	__ Opponent__	_Time/Score_
Jan. 7	at Los Angeles	Win 2-1
Jan. 9	at San Jose	Win 4-1
Jan. 12	at NY Islanders	Lose 0-6
Jan. 14	Carolina	Win 3-1
Jan. 16	at Dallas	Lose 2-3 SO
Jan. 17	Chicago	Lose 3-4 SO
Jan. 19	at Washington	Lose 2-3
Jan. 21	at Minnesota	Win 4-3 SO
Jan. 23	Los Angeles	Lose 2-3
Jan. 26	Phoenix	Lose 4-5 OT
Jan. 27	at Minnesota	Lose 2-5
Jan. 29	Nashville	Win 4-2
Jan. 31	at Pittsburgh	Lose 1-2 SO
Feb. 2	at San Jose	Win 4-2
Feb. 3	at Anaheim	Lose 1-3
Feb. 6	at Los Angeles	Lose 3-4
Feb. 9	at St. Louis	Lose 3-4 SO
Feb. 11	San Jose	Lose 2-3 SO
Feb. 13	Ottawa	Win 4-1
Mar. 1	at Colorado	Win 3-2
Mar. 3	Vancouver	Lose 3-6
Mar. 5	Nashville	Win 5-2
Mar. 7	at Chicago	Win 5-4
Mar. 9	Calgary	Lose 2-4
Mar. 11	Minnesota	Win 5-1
Mar. 13	Buffalo	Win 3-2 OT
Mar. 15	at Calgary	Win 2-1
Mar. 19	at Edmonton	Lose 2-3 SO
Mar. 20	at Vancouver	Win 4-3 OT
Mar. 22	Pittsburgh	Win 3-1
Mar. 24	St. Louis	Win 4-2
Mar. 26	Minnesota	Win 6-2
Mar. 27	at Nashville	Win 1-0 SO
Mar. 30	Edmonton	Win 5-4
Apr. 1	Columbus	Win 3-2
Apr. 3	Nashville	Lose 3-4 OT
Apr. 4	at Philadelphia	Lose 3-4
Apr. 7	Columbus	Win 4-3
Apr. 9	at Columbus	Win 1-0 SO
Apr. 11	at Chicago	Win 3-2 OT

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Blues 4, Red Wings 3
Wings squander early lead
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Stockholm, Sweden -- Chris Osgood wiped his brow and slowly shook his head.

"It was a weird game," he said. "We were playing good."

Key word there, "were."

The Red Wings opened the season here Friday by blowing a 3-1 lead in a five-minute span of the second period and wound up on the short end of a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

The Wings also lost defenseman Jonathan Ericsson in that second period. He took a hard shot off his ankle (undisclosed) and left the game. He will be re-evaluated today.

"The first half of the game we played real well," said Nicklas Lidstrom, who was cheered every time he touched the puck in the first period. "But we had some breakdowns defensively and we didn't put the puck in deep and lost our coverage in our own zone in the last 10 minutes of the second period. You can't have breakdowns like that."

Veteran Paul Kariya scored twice for the Blues, including the eventual game-winner, and goalie Chris Mason turned aside 31 of 34 shots, several of them in spectacular fashion. His best save came in the third period, a sprawling glove save on Johan Franzen off a feed from Pavel Datsyuk, who had deked defenseman Erik Johnson off his feet.

"Give them credit, they battled hard," coach Mike Babcock said. "They got that power-play goal to get themselves back into the game and then we started turning it over."

The Wings were up 3-1 on goals by Ericsson, Kirk Maltby (shorthanded) and Ville Leino (power play). And the Wings were still buzzing. Mason robbed Danny Cleary's point-blank bid for a fourth goal.

In the first period, the Wings failed to score on a two-man advantage for 90 seconds.

"They were schooling us," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "We were awful close to giving up that fourth goal. We needed that power-play goal, we needed that spark."

Kariya got the power-play goal, blasting a wrist shot from the point through a screen provided by Valtteri Filppula and Brad Stuart.

Osgood then failed to secure a rebound on a harmless-looking shot from Jay McClement. B.J. Crombeen made him pay for that to tie the game.

Three minutes later, T.J. Oshie took the puck away from Todd Bertuzzi and sent Kariya on a breakaway and just like that, it was 4-3 Blues.

"As a goalie, you wish you would have mixed in a big save during that span, but it didn't happen," Osgood said. "I would have especially liked to make a big save on that fourth goal, just for the fact that the game was tied and that goal was a game-changer."

Babcock, though not thrilled with Osgood's play -- "Their goalie stopped one more shot than ours did," he said -- said there was plenty of blame to go around."

"We were in this together," he said. "Our defense was okay, except for the turnovers. Kariya's breakaway came when we were trying to get our defensemen off the ice. Can't turn it over there or they end up in the back of the net. You can't play defense on turnovers."

The Wings had 13 giveaways.

"We haven't had a lot of success against them the last few years," the Blues' McClement said.

"We started to at the end of last year, a couple of big games at a big time of the year for us.

I think guys are starting to learn how to play against them."The Wings will get a chance to disprove that theory today.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Blues 5, Wings 3
Blues rally again, drop Red Wings to 0-2
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Stockholm, Sweden -- This was not exactly what the Red Wings had in mind when they brought their seven talented Swedes to Stockholm to open the season.

"No, this is real bad," said Tomas Holmstrom, after the St. Louis Blues sent the Wings home 0-2 with a 5-3 victory Saturday. "It's very disappointing to come here and lose these two games."

The Wings have not started a year 0-2 since 1989-90, but that's not the most relevant statistic. The Wings have not won a hockey game now since June 6 and that, frankly, is starting to be bothersome.

"We lost two-goal leads two nights in a row," coach Mike Babcock said. "Disappointing second periods two nights in a row. They took the game over two nights in a row physically and work-ethic wise."

Babcock could also have added that the Blues got better goaltending in both games.

"We just haven't been able to sustain our effort good enough to be successful," Babcock said. "We had a lot of fine players, but fine isn't good enough."

After the Blues won, 4-3, on Friday, St. Louis winger Jay McClement said he felt the Blues had figured out how to play the Red Wings. Since they've now won three straight dating back to last season, he may be on to something.

"To beat (the Red Wings) anytime, anywhere, is huge for this team moving forward," said veteran Keith Tkachuk, who had two goals for the Blues.

In both games, the Blues spotted the Wings a two-goal lead -- Tomas Holmstrom and Danny Cleary scored in the first 2:08 on Saturday -- then worked themselves back into the game taking advantage of power-play goals, defensive breakdowns and dodgy goaltending by the Wings.

"They have a really good hockey team, for sure, you can't take that away from them," said Holmstrom, whose goal came 31 seconds into the game. "But we should have had this game."

The Blues scored two goals 13 seconds apart in the second period, after a Niklas Kronwall one-timer on the power play had given the Wings a 3-2 lead. Neither of the two goals likely will end up on goalie Jimmy Howard's highlight film.

"Those shots got through me and that just can't happen at this level," Howard said.

The first was a harmless-looking shot by Brad Boyes that trickled through Howard's pads. "I have no idea how that one got through me," Howard said. "It hit me in the body and I don't know how it made it all the way through me."

The second was similar, though the shot was much harder. Patrik Berglund picked up a loose puck at the blue line, went in alone and blasted it under Howard's pad.

"Bottom line," Babcock said of the goaltending, "that wasn't good enough to win. We have to have better than that."

The Wings were clearly deflated by the sudden scores.

"I thought we played better today than (Friday)," said Henrik Zetterberg, who had two assists. "And still they scored five goals. It's going to be tough if we have to score six goals to win. We have to be better defensively and there are a lot of other little things we can correct."

The Wings, who spent a lot of time working on their penalty kill, gave up three power-play goals -- two by Tkachuk and another by Andy McDonald. McDonald's tied the game at 2; Tkachuk's second was the insurance goal in the third.

But it was Tkachuk's first that bothered Babcock.

"I didn't like that one," he said. "It was kind of a backdoor goal on what was a mistake."

Tkachuk outworked a couple of Wings defensemen during a scramble at the side of the net and poked the loose puck past Howard.

"We have to play a lot better for 60 minutes," Nicklas Lidstrom said. "These losses really leave a sour taste. We were all excited about coming here and playing these games for the people of Sweden, but the results were not what we wanted. We have to get back to Detroit and start bearing down more than we did here."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com

Friday, October 9, 2009
Wings 3 Blackhawks 2
Back from Sweden, Wings find success at the Joe
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- After Thursday's morning skate, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was asked if there could be such a thing as a statement game in October.

"Yeah, we're 0-2," he said. "We'd like to make a statement that we can win a game."

Statement made.

Not only did the Wings win, they also let the surging Chicago Blackhawks know they aren't quite ready to abdicate their Central Division throne, beating them 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena.

"This was a good test," said goalie Chris Osgood, who was brilliant turning away 32 of 34 shots. "But to be honest, it felt like the season started today. It's been like a circus for us. It was just nice to get back into our normal routine. It was great to get the win, but we didn't play as well as we can."

The Wings looked dead in the water for the better part of a period and a half. The young and feisty Blackhawks were dictating the pace of the game and dominating the puck. Had it not been for Osgood, the game might have gotten quickly beyond the Wings' grasp.

"I said to Ozzie after that I didn't know if he played one game that well in the first half of last season," Babcock said. "That was a good sign for us."

The Blackhawks broke on top, thanks to a sloppy play by the Wings in their own zone. Tomas Holmstrom's pass hit off Henrik Zetterberg's skate at the blue line and deflected to Kris Versteeg.

Versteeg made a quick pass to Patrick Sharp, whom Osgood had robbed on three occasions. This time, Osgood was defenseless and Sharp buried it.

It looked like the Blackhawks would pile on when Kris Draper and Danny Cleary took minor penalties just seven seconds apart. With Osgood making several big saves, one notable glove save on Brent Seabrook, and Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart and Pavel Datsyuk doing yeoman's work, the Wings killed off 1:53 of a two-man disadvantage.

"I think that penalty kill there turned the game around," Babcock said.

Osgood agreed.

"After that we woke up, but it shouldn't take almost falling behind 2-0 for us to start playing," he said.

The bounces started to go the Wings' way, as well. Having missed on 10 of 12 power-play chances, including the first two on Thursday, the Wings gladly accepted a cheap one.

Nicklas Lidstrom's attempted pass to the slot hit off the skate of John Madden and redirected through the pads of goalie Cristobal Huet.

The goal seemed to energize the Wings and rattle Huet.

Draper put the Wings up 2-1, picking up a bouncing puck over the Hawks' blue line and lifting a perfect shot over Huet's shoulder and under the crossbar.

Ninety-four seconds later, on another power play, Datsyuk's hard shot from the slot trickled through Huet and was heading for the goal line when Johan Franzen poked it across.

"After that, I thought we looked like a team that hadn't won a game," Babcock said. "In the third period, we got a little too defensive and Chicago came at us. That's what happens when you haven't won a game."

After a couple more saves by Osgood -- robbing both Madden and Jonathan Toews -- Jason Williams took a penalty.

During the kill, the Wings had two defensemen down and out of the play. Jonathan Ericsson took a shot off his foot and could barely stand. Brad Stuart lost his stick.

That led to Versteeg burying a rebound off a shot by Sharp.

Then, with 1:38 left, Kronwall took a penalty and the Blackhawks pulled Huet. It was 6-on-4 the rest of the game and the Hawks hardly threatened.

"We were able to hang in there at the end," Lidstrom said. "I thought the team responded real well in the last couple of minutes when we really had to bear down. I thought Ozzie played real well. He saw a lot of shots, he was there for the rebounds. That's the kind of game we need out of Ozzie to get a win tonight."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sabres 6, Red Wings 2
Sabres chase Chris Osgood in rout of Red Wings
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Buffalo, N.Y. -- One team was faster, stronger, hungrier and more efficient on both sides of the ice -- kind of like the Red Wings on many nights.

The other looked slow and tired and played, as legendary NBA coach Larry Brown used to say, like utter strangers -- that team actually was the Red Wings on Tuesday night.

"They were just better than us," said coach Mike Babcock after the Buffalo Sabres put a 6-2 whipping on his befuddled team at HSBC Arena. "They played like we like to play, only they played it a lot better."

Thomas Vanek scored twice and the ultra-talented Derek Roy had three assists for the Sabres (3-0-1), who dominated the neutral zone and owned the puck-possession game, almost from the opening faceoff.

"They beat us at our own game," Danny Cleary said. "They worked harder. They beat us to loose pucks and they played the system better than us."

The Sabres blew a 1-1 game wide open with a four-goal barrage in the second period. It was as brutal a stretch of hockey as the Wings have displayed in quite some time. It went like this:

• First, Sabres Tyler Myers skated around defenseman Derek Meech and found Patrick Kaleta in the slot. He had skated clear of the backcheck of Jason Williams and knocked it past a sprawling Chris Osgood.

• Two minutes later, Vanek's shot deflected past Osgood off the skate of Nicklas Lidstrom. Vanek was streaking alone down the left boards when Roy lobbed a perfect pass over a group of Wings standing still in the neutral zone, sending Vanek in with Drew Stafford with just Lidstrom back.

"To play in this league and at this level, you have to bear down and play better defense," Lidstrom said. "We didn't do that, and we were no help to Ozzie at all. They were just quicker than us and they made us play backing in too much."

• The fourth goal was a product of some hard play by Clarke MacArthur. His crushing check on Valtteri Filppula along the boards shook the puck free. Roy recovered it and fed MacArthur who first shrugged off Lidstrom's check and then beat Osgood.

• The fifth goal was even worse. Niklas Kronwall turned the puck over in his own zone. Roy again pounced on it and got it to Vanek who beat a defenseless Osgood.

Four goals in 6:43. Osgood who faced 22 shots and almost constant pressure, was relieved by Jimmy Howard.

"They were just aggressive at the right times," Lidstrom said. "We're not executing our passes or making the right plays when we need to. Sometimes the right play is to get the puck out of the zone and we were trying to make extra passes."

The Sabres outshot the Wings, 18-4, in the second, and had 37 shots for the game.

"They just took over the game completely (in the second)," said Henrik Zetterberg, who's still scoreless on the season. "We didn't have a chance. We let it get out of control and that can't happen."

The Wings had a chance to get a goal back before the end of the period when Filppula was taken down by Myers on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. He tried to go backhand-forehand but Sabres goalie Ryan Miller easily knocked the shot aside.

Miller has stopped 9 of 10 penalty shots in his career.

Howard, who made several strong saves, gave up the sixth goal in the third period to Paul Gaustad.

The teams exchanged power-play goals in the first period. Stafford scored for the Sabres and Filppula for the Wings. Tomas Holmstrom finished the scoring with his third goal of the season in the third.

"We just have to erase this one from our memories and move on," Zetterberg said.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Thursday, October 15, 2009
Red Wings 5, Kings 2: Nicklas Lidstrom notches his 1,000th point
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- It took about half a period, but Detroit finally shook off whatever cobwebs lingered from their horrendous night in Buffalo on Tuesday and, behind a milestone night for captain Nick Lidstrom and a lot of help from goalie Chris Osgood, beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Thursday.

The Wings got goals from Jonathan Ericsson, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Kirk Maltby and an empty-net goal by Brian Rafalski. And with two assists on the night, Lidstrom became the eighth defenseman in NHL history to amass 1,000 points. He was given a long standing ovation and a video tribute during a television timeout.

The Wings are 21-2 against the Kings dating to 2002, 11-1 at Joe Louis Arena.

Ice chips

Besides redrawing the forward lines, coach Mike Babcock also changed the top two defense pairings, moving Niklas Kronwall with Lidstrom and Rafalski with Brad Stuart.

... One of the referees Thursday night, Dean Morton, actually played for the Wings. Morton was drafted by the Wings in 1986 and played one game back in the 1989-90 season.

Posted: 7 p.m. Oct. 17, 2009 | Updated: 10:06 p.m. Oct. 17, 2009
Colorado 4, Detroit 3 (SO)
Wings sputter late

FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES

Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk scored shootout goals to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Colorado, which has won four straight, rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in the third period.

Cody McLeod had two goals, and Matt Duchene also scored for Colorado. Ryan O’Reilly recorded two assists and Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots. He also turned aside Henrik Zetterberg and Ville Leino in the shootout.

Justin Abdelkader, Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula scored for Detroit. Chris Osgood made 25 saves. Jason Williams had a goal scored in the shootout.

McLeod’s second goal made it 3-3 with 2:32 left in regulation. He beat Osgood from the bottom of the left circle after taking a pass from Ryan O’Reilly.

Filppula had given the Red Wings a 3-2 lead with 6:33 left.

The Avalanche scored twice in a 2:37 span in the middle of the third to tie it at 2.

McLeod got the Avalanche within 2-1 at 9:08 of the third period when he beat Osgood with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the right circle.

Duchene tied it at 2 with 8:15 left with his first NHL goal, beating Osgood with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

Abdelkader opened the scoring 3:25 into the game when he put in the rebound of Darren Helm’s shot. Helm started the play by taking the puck away from defenseman Kyle Cumiskey. It was Abdelkader’s first NHL regular-season goal.

Bertuzzi’s power-play goal made it 2-0 1:14 into the second period when he poked in Zetterberg’s pass from just outside the crease. It was Bertuzzi’s first goal of the season.

NOTES: Detroit C Pavel Datsyuk missed his second game with an upper-body injury. ... Colorado D Adam Foote was hit in the face by Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom’s slap shot, but wasn’t cut. He returned to the bench after being attended to on the ice and didn’t miss a shift. ... Williams was cut in the face by Svatos’ high stick early in the third and was helped off the ice. Svatos received four minutes for high-sticking.

Posted: 9:59 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009 | Updated: 2:36 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009
Pho. 3, Detroit 2 (OT)
Wings fall in Arizona

BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Red Wings saw Chris Osgood get pushed around, and from there, the ending was the same old story: A good, solid effort, and just one point to pocket.

Playing before an announced crowd of 11,938 in the 17,999-capacity Jobing.com Arena Thursday night, a late 2-1 lead slipped away into a 3-2 overtime loss to the Coyotes. It’s the second straight game the Wings have surrendered a one-goal in the last three minutes to end up losing.

This one, though, sat especially badly: The Wings played very well for most of the second and third period, and they felt the Coyotes took liberties when they piled into Detroit’s net and ended up with Petr Prucha’s goal at 17:20 of the third period.

“I thought they were pushing the goalie into the net,” Mike Babcock said, “and I didn’t think that was allowed. That doesn’t matter. We were in the situation set up to win a game and with very little time left, I thought we did a lot of really good things and we ended up shooting ourselves in the foot and costing ourselves a point.”

Henrik Zetterberg, who assisted on the goals scored by Tomas Holmstrom and Brett Lebda, said that “I thought Ozzie had it and they pushed him in the net. But I guess the referee saw it differently. It’s tough to lose this way. I think we played a real good game. We were battling hard and doing a lot of good things out there.”

Captain Nicklas Lidstrom said officials told him that the Coyotes were just battling for the puck.

“I thought we played well enough to win and get the two points tonight,” Lidstrom said. “They got a lucky bounce on the winning goal in overtime, but I thought we controlled most of the game tonight.”

Osgood knew where the puck was the entire time on the tying goal.

“It was sitting underneath my leg,” he said, “and they just kept jamming away and pretty much pushed me in the net with it. You’re not supposed to be able to get pushed in with the puck and that was what happened.

“It’s just frustrating, because I think we’ve played pretty good the last couple of games and we haven’t been rewarded for it. It’s just one of those times when we’re not getting any breaks right now.”

Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said “I love the way that we just decided we were throwing pucks at the crease and lets see what happens. We got ourselves some momentum, and we got fortunate in overtime.”

Adrian Aucoin scored 1:57 into overtime when his shot from the right boards deflected in off Osgood’s stick.

“I went to steer it into the corner and it hit my stick and it kind of ramped when it came in,” Osgood said. “It took a bounce and hit my stick and hit my hand, my blocker. I feel really good, I just can’t get a break right now.”

Though the Wings scored on their first power play, they went 0-for-3 after that, including squandering 50 seconds with the man advantage at the start of the third period. But on the whole, they played a solid game, going 2-for-3 on penalty kills and looking like their old selves as they shut down the Coyotes the first two-thirds of the third period.

“We’re doing the right things,” Osgood said. “We’re killing penalties. I think everyone feels good. We’d like to have a breakout game where we score a lot of goals, but at the same time, we feel we’ve been unlucky, and we’ve been snake-bit a little bit. These things over the course of the year tend to even themselves out, so we have to not get down. I think we’re playing pretty good.”

The Wings next play Saturday at Colorado, the team that beat Detroit 4-3 in a shootout last Saturday after scoring late in the third period to tie that game.

“When you have the lead with three minutes to go,” Brad Stuart said, “you can’t be losing those games. It’s been two games in a row now that we’ve given up leads, and that’s not our team, that’s not the way we need to play. We were doing a lot of good things – the majority of the second period, I thought we played well, the first half of the third period we were doing good things, but then they started to get some chances and we seemed to lay back a little bit and stopped attacking.”

Contact HELENE ST. JAMES at 1-313-222-2295 or Hstjames@freepress.com.

Posted: Oct. 25, 2009
Colorado 3, Detroit 1
0-8 power failure helps keep Red Wings winless on road

BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

DENVER -- A relentless attack, on power plays and at even strength, was not enough to overturn the Red Wings' road woes.

Chris Stewart tore a shot behind Jimmy Howard midway through the third period, and Paul Stastny added an empty-net goal to hand Detroit a 3-1 loss Saturday at Pepsi Center. The Wings' power play went 0-for-8, failing to score for the first time this season, and Craig Anderson turned away 48 shots to leave Detroit 0-3-1 on the road despite outplaying the Avalanche from start to finish.

"We played good," coach Mike Babcock said. "I think when you're in a situation where we are where you haven't been winning enough, you can make this into something it isn't. We played good. Their goalie stood on his head."

The Wings started well and got an opportunity to grab the lead when Stastny was tagged with four minutes for high-sticking Henrik Zetterberg two-thirds through the first period. Tomas Holmstrom alone banked three shots on goal during the ensuing attacks, and Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall both blasted pucks at Anderson, but all to no avail -- eight shots later, the Wings still had no goals.

"We had a lot of chances," Zetterberg said. "They were blocking a lot of shots from the beginning, too, and when we did get the puck to the net, their goalie made the saves."

Jason Williams had the best chance on the next power play to bring the Wings some breathing room, but Anderson deflected the shot from the left flank.

Howard saw his bid for a shutout end at 14:26 of the second. Brian Rafalski's clearing pass went awry, and when Jonathan Ericsson couldn't corral the puck, Stewart picked him off and fed T.J. Galiardi, who stuffed a backhand behind Howard.

Howard played well overall in his second start and made 20 saves, but Stewart's goal stung. "I was out, I was big, and it just got by me and hit the post," Howard said. "It was a good shot."

Todd Bertuzzi drove to the net soon after, but Anderson denied a backhand attempt with a leg save, and kept the score 1-1 when he later made a terrific save on Zetterberg's power-play slap shot from the right circle. Howard did his job by coming out of the net to stop Wojtek Wolski's short-range wrist shot in the last minute, leaving the teams tied entering the third period.

Posted: 10 p.m. Oct. 27, 2009 | Updated: 2:55 a.m. Oct. 28, 2009
Detroit 5, Vancouver 4
Wings get 1st road win

By HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Red Wings kept telling themselves to stick with what they were doing and good things had to happen. They did.

Pavel Datsyuk made up for a seven-game lull with two goals in the third period Tuesday as the Red Wings exploded with their most potent offensive game in weeks and earned their first road victory of the season by beating the Canucks, 5-4, at GM Place.

Jason Williams provided the game-winning goal on a power play at 14:57 of the third period when he was in position by the net to catch Valtteri Filppula’s cross-crease pass and stuff it past Roberto Luongo. The Wings scored four third-period goals against the Canucks after only scoring six the first nine games.

“We’d watched the pre-scout before the game and felt that we could sort of do a down-low play,” Williams said. “I just tried to be down there and be available and Fil made a great pass.

“We were determined to win the game tonight. When they jumped off to get that first goal and put us behind the eight-ball right away, we were just, ‘Oh, no.’ We didn’t know what was going to happen. But we just felt that we could still battle back, there was still plenty of game left. I think it was good for our team to get behind like that and battle back for the things we’ve been going through the last little bit here. It just shows the character that we have.”

Jimmy Howard relieved Chris Osgood early in the first period and made 20 saves to earn his first victory of the season.

“Sometimes when you come in off the bench you really don’t have time to think about much,” Howard said. “You just go out there and play. I really liked how I came in off the bench.”

The Wings recorded 49 shots Saturday at Colorado but had just one goal to show for it. This night, they had their way with one of the best goaltenders in the league, peppering him with 42 shots and going 2-for-3 on power plays.

“We got rewarded by getting some shots to the net and that’s what we wanted to do and tried to do,” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “We can’t get frustrated and start not getting through the neutral zone or not chipping the puck in, not doing the right things. We just kept working hard and it finally paid off for us.”

Teammates were gratified to see Datsyuk, whose assist gave him his first three-point game of the season, also get four shots on net.

“It’s great to see the puck go in for him,” Lidstrom said, “but we’d been on him a lot just to shoot the puck a lot more.”

Henrik Zetterberg remained stuck on one goal but set up Tomas Holmstrom and had a strong game overall.

“We’re not going anywhere if every nine games (Datsyuk) and Z have got one goal between them,” coach Mike Babcock said. “It just doesn’t work like that. These guys know that and put a lot of pressure on themselves to generate offense and they’re going to — you can’t keep good players down. We just knew it was a matter of time and goal scorers, once they score, it’s like an adrenaline shot to you and you get rolling. I’m sure we’re going to reap the benefits of this.”

Osgood was pulled at 7:05 after allowing two goals on four shots.

“I was thinking he wasn’t very good and so I better get him out,” Babcock said.

“It was a tough start for us. I didn’t think we played bad, I thought we played fine, it’s just the puck went in and so we just talked about keep playing, we’ll get an opportunity, let’s get as much traffic as we can on Lu and keep throwing at the paint and we’ll find a way back in the game, and I thought we did a good job of that. I thought it was a good step for Howie and good for our team.”

Henrik Sedin scored on the first shift after Brian Rafalski was unable to clear the puck, and by 7:05 of the first period the Canucks had a 2-0 lead when Christian Ehrhoff beat Osgood glove-side.

“Not the start we wanted,” Dan Cleary said. “They had good seeing-eye pucks, but we did a good job. Even when we were down, 2-1, I thought we were playing well, getting a lot of shots and traffic, and we stayed with it and got some goals and the power play came up big for us. Nobody got frustrated.”

Holmstrom scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season at 15:47 to pull the Wings within a goal, and Niklas Kronwall tied things up when he collected Zetterberg’s blocked shot and scored at 3:51 of the third period. Ex-Wing Mathieu Schneider promptly put the Canucks ahead on a power play at 5:05, but Pavel Datsyuk delivered his first goal of the season a minute later when he slashed in from the right boards and slid the puck beneath Luongo and delivered the second goal midway through the period on a power play.

Sedin scored his second during a 5-on-3 after Brad Stuart was called for boarding Sergei Shirokov.

“That was a suspect call,” Cleary said, “but it was a good play by them. But we just stuck with it and kept working hard.”

Canucks center Ryan Johnson was carried off the ice on a stretcher after sliding headfirst into the end boards early in the second period.

Johnson was taken to a nearby hospital for further observation, though a team spokesperson said he was alert and had full movement.

“We were told in between periods that he’s going to be OK,” Canucks center Ryan Kesler said after the game. “You hate to see a friend and a teammate go down like that. It really puts things in perspective. It’s an extremely fast game out there. We’re just glad he’s going to be all right.”

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said Johnson had X-rays and a CT scan.

“So far I think everything looks good,” Vigneault said.

Johnson was skating full speed through the neutral zone before chipping the puck into the Detroit end, and appeared to lose his balance as he tried to step around defenseman Niklas Lidstrom, falling heavily and awkwardly into the end boards.

Contact HELENE ST. JAMES: 313-222-2295 or hstjames@freepress.com. Check out her Red Wings blog at freep.com/section/blog09.

Posted: 9:34 p.m. Oct. 29, 2009 | Updated: 3:47 a.m. Oct. 30, 2009
Edmonton 6, Detroit 5 (SO)
Wings erase 4-goal deficit, lose in shootout

By HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Red Wings gained a point but lost a key player Thursday after yet again showing both how stubborn - and how good - they are.

A furious third period erased a four-goal deficit but the Wings fell in the shootout, 6-5, to the Oilers at Rexall Place to drop to 1-1-2 on this trip, which winds down Saturday at Calgary.

The Wings will have to face the Flames without second-line center Valtteri Filppula, who is out 6-8 weeks after breaking his right wrist during the second period.

“That’s a big blow, obviously,” coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re going to have to buckle down as a team and find a way. It doesn’t matter about who’s not here, it’s about who is here. We’re going to miss Fil, we understand that, you don’t replace good players like that. The bottom line is, we’ve got to find a way to win games.”

Filppula was injured on a hit by Oilers forward Gilbert Brule.

“I feel terrible, but nothing I can do now,” Filppula said.

General manager Ken Holland said the team would not be recalling anyone from the minors as the Wings are flush with forwards. They demonstrated just how deep they are Thursday as they got goals not just from top forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi but also fourth-liners Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves and third-pair defenseman Jonathan Ericsson.

The Wings got 45 shots on net, the third straight game they’ve topped 40 shots and reached five goals for a second straight game. But they made things difficult on themselves with atrocious turnovers the first 40 minutes.

“I think we’re just being stubborn, trying to make that play when it’s not there,” captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “And teams that we’re playing against are back-checking so hard that they’re taking everything away in the middle, so if you try to go across ice or through the middle, it’s very hard.

“You’re just putting yourself in a bad position where you’ve got to scramble all the time. It takes a lot of you when you’re chasing from behind all the time instead of playing with the lead where you can play a little more relaxed. It’s encouraging that we’re coming back in a game like this but it’s not good when we have starts the way we have in the last couple of games.”

The opening story line mirrored that of the previous game, as the Wings coughed up a goal on the first shift and soon fell behind 2-0, as J-F Francois and Dustin Pennner took advantage of defensive breakdowns and Jimmy Howard being out of position to put the Oilers ahead by midway through the first period. Unlike at Vancouver, however, this night things just kept getting worse, as Ales Hemsky delivered a power play goal at 12:24 of first period.

“As a coach you’ve got to question what the heck you’re doing at the start of the game,” Babcock said. “We got down 2-0 the other night but we didn’t think that had much to do with our energy level or how we played. Tonight we turned the puck over early. I thought that first power play goal was absolutely awful – anytime they seam you four times in a row like that, you’re giving your goaltender no opportunity. So that was disturbing. All in all, we just shot ourselves in the foot and you can’t win like that.”

Hemsky scored on a breakaway a minute into the second period when he sprang up the middle and put a forehand behind Howard on the Oilers’ 13th shot of the game.

Babcock said he didn’t want to insert Chris Osgood after Osgood had struggled in Vancouver, giving up two goals on four shots.

“I just thought that it wasn’t going to do Ozzie any good the way the game was going after his last start to fire him into that situation,” Babcock said. “In the end we challenged Howie and challenged the team to respond. I thought Howie made two good saves right at the very end of the game. Even in the shootout he made a couple of good saves.”

Helm began the comeback at 6:15 of the second period when he scored his first goal in 29 NHL regular-season games. Shawn Horcoff and Zetterberg traded goals before the second period ended, setting up a thriller of a third period as the Wings battered Nikolai Khabibulin with 20 shots the last 20 minutes of regulation.

Ericsson used his monster shot to score at 6:32, and then Bertuzzi – about as overdue for a goal as possible after all the chances he’s had over the past week – found the net at 7:47. Eaves, appearing in just his fifth game for Detroit, scored his first goal as a Wing at 12:53 when he beat Nikolai Khabibulin to make it 5-5 and force the game past regulation.

“The point is obviously very, very important the way we battled back and the grit and the determination that we can dig down and make it happen,” Babcock said. “The part that’s disturbing is … we had a good practice (Wednesday) – did we waste yesterday? Everything we did, we didn’t do. That’s disappointing. The real positive part is it’s easy to hang your head and it’s another thing to respond and it’s like anything, when you’re knocked down, the quicker you get up, obviously the better off you are.”

The Wings have seven goals over the past two third periods after only scoring six times in the first eight third periods of the season.

“We just decided we can’t play like this,” Lidstrom said of what sparked the comeback. “It’s not going to work in the long run and it sure didn’t work in the first half of the game. I thought we said in here, one goal at a time and get the puck in behind them, and slowly we’re going to get our chances. It did work out well for us in regulation.”

Contact HELENE ST. JAMES at 1-313-222-2295 or Hstjames@freepress.com.

Posted: 9:45 p.m. Oct. 31, 2009 | Updated: 2:46 a.m. Nov. 1, 2009
Detroit 3, Calgary 1
A pair of second-period goals the difference for Red Wings

BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Red Wings looked like their confident old selves as they wrapped up a grueling five-game road trip with a well-played defensive effort against the Flames.

From Chris Osgood making the needed saves to timely goals, the Wings claimed a 3-1 victory at the Saddledome to head home with a 2-1-2 record.

“Ozzie made two huge saves in the first minute,” Mike Babcock said. “If it had been like the other games, those goals would have went in for sure and then we’d have been behind the eight ball. So Ozzie made two big saves, we settled in and got playing. I thought we took the game over for long periods and we skated well. For the first time maybe all year we were a five-man unit, we made some nice plays. I liked the goals we scored and the way we went about our business. It was impressive. We looked like a hockey team.”

Brad Stuart scored 35 seconds after Daymond Langkow gave the Flames a 1-0 lead late in the second period, and inside a minute Pavel Datsyuk fed Tomas Holmstrom to put the Wings ahead for good. Kirk Maltby used a bad change by the Flames to secure an insurance goal with an empty netter at 19:16.

“The one thing we were talking about was bringing desperation into our game and I think we did that,” Kris Draper said. “Our focus was really to put it on the line and do whatever we could to win the hockey game. It’s important. We’ve got to get some wins here, they’ve been tough to come by. It’s a big win for us.”

Brad May missed the last part of the third period after taking a stick to the right eye, but he said afterwards he’d be fine. Todd Bertuzzi missed a few shifts while taking numerous stitches to his left cheek after getting hit by Rene Bourque’s skate.

“His skate came up and I just moved by neck, thank God,” Bertuzzi said. “It just caught me.”

The Wings have 13 goals over the last three games, but most importantly Saturday, they only allowed one – for the first time this season. That came from far better five-man cohesiveness than yet seen this season.

“I thought it was a lot better team defense and a lot better team effort, too,” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “I thought we played well in front of our goalie – Ozzie played real well, but I thought we helped him out on a lot of the rebounds, too. We got the puck in deep most times we were coming through the neutral zone – we didn’t make any lateral passes when we didn’t have to. We got a good forecheck on their D and we got the whole team skating by doing that.

The Flames raced into Detroit’s zone on the opening shifts and both Jay Bouwmeester and Cory Sarich got bang-bang shots on Osgood, and it wasn’t until midway through the period before the Wings tested Miikka Kiprusoff when Dan Cleary’s backhand trickled into Calgary’s crease. The Wings took over at that point, and were quick to respond after Bourque wrapped the puck around Detroit’s net and found Langkow as Stuart responded with his first goal.

“I was trying to get it through and I know the goalie is sliding across, so if you can throw it where he’s coming from, it’s going to be tougher for him,” Stuart said. “I’m basically just trying to get it through and get it on net and at worst create a rebound for our guys. They get the first goal and we could have easily just kind of said, ‘you know what, it’s the end of a road trip, let’s just play this one out, but we stuck with it.

“We fell behind but we stuck with it and were able to pot a couple of goals. I thought in the third period maybe we got a little too tentative and defensive but we defended well and Ozzie made some saves when he had to.”

Posted: 6:48 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009 | Updated: 1:25 a.m. today
Detroit 2, Boston 0
Osgood blanks Bruins

BY GEORGE SIPPLE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Chris Osgood made some big stops in the first period and finished with 29 saves to earn his 50th career shutout.

Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored first period goals and the Wings went on to beat the Boston Bruins, 2-0, on Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena. Pavel Datsyuk assisted on both goals. The Wings were outshot 13-10 in the first period and 29-26 for the game.

Osgood got a piece of a Marco Sturm shot in front of the net and then the rebound went off a post and Osgood reached behind him to prevent it from going in midway through the first period.

“Just trying to battle and get in the way,” Osgood said. “I didn’t see it come through. Just moved to the side. It hit my arm and I rolled over and grabbed it before it went in.”

He also got a little help from the posts in the first and second periods.

Osgood said he’s never really thought much about shutouts, other than they’ve meant a goaltender had a great chance to win.

“I’ve said numerous times I grew up watching Grant Fuhr play and he was just about winning games,” Osgood said. “That’s just my mentality. Shutouts are nice for the fact that you’re probably going to win the game.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock said Osgood has played well lately after being challenged to be better.

“I thought he did well tonight,” Babcock said. “I thought (Boston) had some opportunities and he did a good job with it. We challenged our goaltender to be better and it’s good it has been the last couple games.”

Zetterberg’s goal came two seconds into a power play at 14:21 of the first. Then Holmstrom scored on a drop pass from Pavel Datsyuk at 17:43 for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. The goal was a significant one in Holmstrom’s career, as it was his first in 15 games against the Bruins and they were the only team left in the NHL that he had not scored on in his career.

“Oh, is it?” Holmstrom said. “I didn’t know about that. It’s fun.

“Pavel, he’s got eyes in his back. He just banged it. Soft pass and just hit the puck.”

Holmstrom said Osgood was “our best player.

“He played great for us,” Holmstrom said. “I don’t think as a team we played really, really good but we pulled it off and Ozzie stood on his head.”

Holmstrom now has eight goals and 10 points over his last 12 games, but said he hasn’t thought much of his hot streak.

“It’s early in the season, so I don’t really think about it,” he said. “Just go out there and try to help the team.”

The Wings were playing without defensemen Brian Rafalski (ill) and Jonathan Ericsson, who missed his second straight game with the flu.

Last Updated: November 06. 2009 7:37PM
Red Wings 2, Sharks 1 (SO)
Hard work pays off for Red Wings in shootout victory
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Might as well get used to this. The way the Red Wings handled their business against a red-hot San Jose team Thursday, taking a hard-fought, 2-1 shootout win, is the way, the only way, they are going to have success this season.

"We're not going to win like we used to," coach Mike Babcock said. "We don't have that kind of team any more. With the group we have right now, and the injuries we have, we have to grind out games like this. We have a veteran core here that understands that."

The Wings got shootout goals from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg while Chris Osgood was stopping Dan Boyle and Ryane Clowe.

"We played smart tonight," said Osgood, who stopped 33 of 34 shots. "We didn't panic. We took care of the puck. We're getting back to playing the way we're capable of playing."

The Wings, down 1-0 after two periods, tied it at 5:38 of the third thanks to some hard work by Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves. Helm won the puck behind the Sharks goal, drove it to the front of the net but was knocked off the puck before he could shoot. Eaves picked it up and fed Nick Lidstrom at the left point.

His shot was saved by Evegni Nabokov, but Helm helped jar it loose and Zetterberg cleaned it up, poking it in from under the goalie's skate.

Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation. Kris Draper wound up with a breakaway in the final 10 seconds but couldn't get a shot on goal.

"They play a lot like us," said Datsyuk, which is understandable since Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was an assistant under Babcock for three seasons. "They play five-men together, tight game, just like us. It's like facing a mirror."

It was another shut-down defensive performance by Osgood and the Wings' defense. Babcock matched Datsyuk with the Sharks' leading scorer Patrick Marleau (22 points). Marleau, riding a nine-game point streak, was kept off the board and limited to just two shots.

The Sharks other gunners -- Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley -- were held in check most of the night by Zetterberg, Danny Cleary and Jason Williams. Thornton and Heatley had just one shot each.

"You do that with a five-man unit and with Ozzie playing like he has," Zetterberg said. "We are playing like we're supposed to, and when we do that it's a lot easier to win."

The Sharks, coming off a shootout win in Columbus Wednesday, were a step slow out of the gate and the Wings took it to them for the better part of the first two periods.

Yet, because the Wings couldn't seem to find the target, they trailed 1-0.

The Sharks goal came 14:41 into the second period. Eaves and Helm got caught deep and the Sharks were off on a three-on-two rush. It became three on Brett Lebda when Jonathan Ericsson fell down.

Joe Callahan fed Logan Couture who beat Osgood in between his pads for his first NHL goal.

It was the first goal Osgood allowed in 119.58, and just his second in nine periods and one overtime.

"Goaltending is so important and Ozzie has been way stronger the last three games," Babcock said. "He's got to be feeling really good about himself. I don't care who you are and how much you've won in the past, it's good to get on a roll and get your confidence up. Good for him that he has that going now."

The Wings dominated the puck for most of the first 40 minutes but couldn't put the puck on net. Through two periods, they had 15 shot on goal and 15 missed shots.

The line of Helm, Eaves and Draper were buzzing all night. Todd Bertuzzi had countless opportunities, as did Ville Leino, who crashed the net hard a couple of times and came up empty.

"I knew this was going to be a good game," Babcock said. "They played last night, but they have some high-end players. I thought you had some world-class matchups with Hank and Joe Thornton and Pav and Marleau.

"I thought those centers in particular had good battles."

The Wings are on a 4-0-1 streak.

The Sharks were without captain Rob Blake, who was put on the injured list with an upper body injury. The Sharks called up both Joe Callahan and Derek Joslin from Worcester of the American Hockey League.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Last Updated: November 12. 2009 2:32PM
Red Wings 9, Blue Jackets 1
Wings score early, often in romp
Dana Wakiji / The Detroit News

Columbus, Ohio -- The Red Wings played spoiler in Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock's 1,000th NHL game.

Niklas Kronwall scored twice on the power play, Justin Abdelkader had two third-period goals and Danny Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Todd Bertuzzi and Ville Leino also scored as the Red Wings trounced the Blue Jackets, 9-1, Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.

The last time the Wings scored nine goals was October 11, 2006, in a 9-2 home win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Wings jumped out quickly with Cleary's goal just 1:05 into the game. Datsyuk followed less than two minutes later and Draper made it 3-0 at 7:31.

Columbus goaltender Steve Mason was pulled after the third goal in favor of Mathieu Garon, but returned to start the second period.

"We wanted to come out with a good start, a good push in the first 10 minutes," said Nicklas Lidstrom, who extended his assist streak to three games.

"We were looking at it as they were the team to beat in our division. They're on top of our division so we're looking at playing well against the top teams. I thought the whole team really responded well tonight from the get-go."

Detroit was embarrassed after its 5-1 loss in Toronto last Saturday and determined not to let that happen again.

"We got off to a good start," coach Mike Babcock said. "We weren't very happy, obviously, with our last game and I thought our guys, we played with good structure tonight and got started. We had some good puck luck around their net, which is important. Things turned out well for us."

Hitchcock was not thrilled with his team's performance.

"We really got schooled today," he said.

"We got schooled by a hungry team that got beat, 5-1, the last game and they were ready to play and we weren't. It's an opportunity lost because it's a division game and because of the way we played. We didn't play committed or hard against a genuine opponent. It's disappointment in the attitude towards the competition."

Detroit (8-5-3) now has 19 points, just one shy of Columbus' 20. Chicago won, 3-2, in a shootout over Colorado to take the sole lead in the Central Division with 22 points.

Aside from the good start, the Wings also got solid defensive play and helped out young goaltender Jimmy Howard, who made 25 saves.

Howard allowed only a second-period goal to Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets' leading scorer.

Nash has 22 goals and 16 assists in 39 games against the Wings.

"I felt pretty good," Howard said. "I think there's still room for improvement out there, but for the most part I was seeing the puck really well and I wasn't trying to do too much or try and be perfect. I was just out there playing and having fun."

Also having fun was Leino, who got his first goal in 11 games and first with new linemates Zetterberg and Cleary.

"Obviously it's good to have some success and score a goal," Leino said. "It gives you more confidence and I felt good playing with those guys, I know what they're doing and obviously they're really good players."

Zetterberg assisted on goals by both Cleary and Leino.
Power play gets results

After going 1-for-18 on the power play in the last five games, the Red Wings got two power-play goals against the Blue Jackets, both from Kronwall.

"I thought the power play was good tonight," Babcock said.

"We actually thought our power play was pretty good in Toronto, but (goaltender Jonas) Gustavsson was up to the challenge. Sometimes when you're just focused totally on goals, sometimes some of the good things you do go unnoticed. Tonight we were rewarded, but Kronwall shot the puck real well."

dwakiji@detnews.com

Last Updated: November 13. 2009 4:32PM
Red Wings 3, Canucks 1
Henrik Zetterberg scores winner as Wings grind out another one
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The Red Wings seemed to be on the ropes from the opening faceoff Thursday, but goaltender Jimmy Howard kept them propped up just long enough for Henrik Zetterberg to sneak behind the Vancouver defense, lift a backhander over Roberto Luongo eight minutes into the third period and send them to a 3-1 victory over the Canucks.

It was the Red Wings' fifth win in six games. They've allowed just four goals in those five wins.

"We are now 9-3-3 since coming back from our trip (to Sweden)," coach Mike Babcock said. "We aren't winning games in the same fashion that we used to, that's pretty obvious. But we are finding ways to grind games out and that's what we have to do."

On the winner, Niklas Kronwall drew the Canucks to one side of the ice and made a quick pass across the Wings' blue line to Brad Stuart. Stuart made a perfect two-line pass to Zetterberg, who took it at the Canucks' blue line and went in on Luongo alone. He roofed his backhander.

"I just tried to find some space and see what my options were," Stuart said. "Z did a great job finding the hole and made an unbelievable shot. Not too many guys can do that."

Tomas Holmstrom scored the Wings' first goal, his ninth, a power-play marker set up by Zetterberg in the first period. Kronwall finished the scoring with a 190-footer that deflected off the glass and rolled into the empty net.

Fittingly, Howard got his first NHL assist on the play.

"That was kind of cool," Howard said. "I didn't expect to get an assist, just dumping the puck into the corner."

It was that kind of night for Howard. He made 31 saves, several on tricky deflections and redirections around the net.

"That's something we've worked on a lot in practice," said Howard, who posted back-to-back wins for the first time in his NHL career. "We've got some of the best in the game here with (Danny) Cleary and Homer (Holmstrom) and we work on it every day. I just try to get out of the paint, cut down the angle and move away as many skates as I can and make myself big."

Howard got a break in the second period when Ryan Kesler rang a shot off the post on a 2-on-1 rush. But for the most part, he was stout.

"This wasn't one of our best games," Stuart said. "We were on a back-to-back and we didn't have the same jump we had in Columbus. Howie kept us in it and gave us a chance to steal a win."

The Wings' defense kept the heat off Howard for the most part in the final 12 minutes.

"Last night on the plane I knew that Ozzie (Chris Osgood, out with the flu) was sick and the coaches told me to be ready. I started preparing right then," he said. "My mind-set was just to weather the storm early and give our guys a chance to get their legs."

The Wings were fortunate to be tied, 1-1, after an odd second period. The Wings are the least penalized team in the league, but they were called for five minor penalties (to one for the Canucks) in the period. The Wings were short-handed four times and two men short once for 19 seconds.

"When the other team is tilting the rink and outplaying you like they were, it's pretty hard to complain about the officiating," Babcock said.

It only cost the Wings one goal. A slapper by Kevin Bieska hit off teammate Mason Raymond and deflected past Howard, 6:38 into the period.

"Howie was way better tonight because he had more action," Babcock said.

"He was relaxed. Like with all young players, you tend to overthink and press and it's hard to be soft in goal when you are like that. Pucks bounce off you. But tonight he was above the paint, he was square, he really battled and made big plays. That's a real good sign for us."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Last Updated: November 14. 2009 1:00AM
Red Wings 7, Ducks 4
Henrik Zetterberg's third-period hat trick lifts Red Wings
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Lest there was any doubt about Henrik Zetterberg being among the ultra-elite centermen in the NHL hockey league, witness his five-point performance in leading the Red Wings to a rollicking 7-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

"He's playing as good as he ever has right now," Niklas Kronwall said. "Shift after shift he's out there against the other team's top line. Z just kind of took it over tonight."

That he did. He scored three goals in the final 10:50 to keep the Wings on top of a wild seesaw ride in the third period.

"It was just nice to get the two points," said Zetterberg, who now has eight goals and 14 assists on the season. "I had a lot of chances early. I think I had five shots on one shift in the first period and I knew I just had to keep going. I got two nice passes from Clears (Danny Cleary) and they ended up in the net. It was nice to finally get some."

Impressively, Zetterberg did most of his work playing against another elite center, Ryan Getzlaf, who figured in all four of the Ducks goals (one goal and three assists).

"I thought that whole line was great," coach Mike Babcock said of Zetterberg, Cleary and Ville Leino, a line that accounted for four of the seven goals. "I thought Cleary (goal and two assists) was fantastic. But whenever we play against the dominant players in this league, Zetterberg always lifts his game and he did that tonight."

On the whole, though, Babcock was lukewarm on the win.

"I like that we found a way to win," said Babcock, whose team now has won six of its last seven. "But I thought we could have worn this team out and we didn't do that. We let them back into the game. I like winning, don't get me wrong. But that's not how we want to go about our business."

Here's how the rollercoaster went in the third period.

Anaheim tied the game at 2-2 at 3:47 on a power play goal by Bobby Ryan.

The Wings answered that with their third power play goal of the game, a pretty deflection by Pavel Datsyuk at 5:17.

Anaheim re-tied it at 6:26, on a snapper by Joffrey Lupul. Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who had been sharp for eight straight periods, would have liked that one back. He got caught looking around and the puck went through his pads.

"That was a bad goal," Babcock said. "But so what? The key is to stop the next one and that's what he did."

And then Zetterberg went to work. He banged in his own rebound at 9:10 to put the Wings back on top, 3-2.

But soon after he was called for slashing. The Wings compounded that by getting caught with too many men on the ice, giving the Ducks a two-man advantage for 55 seconds.

"I thought we looked good killing that penalty with five skaters," Babcock quipped. "But you can't have five skaters. It was a bad penalty and it came at a bad time."

Getzlaf fired a slapper by Howard to tie the game.

"We talked the whole game about just keep playing, no matter what happens," Zetterberg said. "We knew they have a lot of skill on their team. We just had to keep answering."

It took Zetterberg 62 seconds to put the Wings back on top for good. He took a pass from Cleary and beat goalie Jonas Hiller with looked to be a harmless wrist shot.

Darren Helm scored 2:15 left and then Zetterberg got his hat trick, his first since March 19, 2008, with an empty-netter with 0.7 seconds left.

"I would have liked us to be better tonight, but in saying that, we're still finding ways to win," Babcock said. "We are going in the right direction and getting better."

The Wings jumped out to a 2-0 lead on power play goals by Cleary (his third in four games) and Brian Rafalski.

The Ducks got back into it with a goal by Corey Perry (13th) in the second period, which was aided by a giveaway behind the Wings' net by Jonathan Ericsson.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com

Last Updated: November 19. 2009 1:32AM
Stars 3, Wings 1
Stars hand Wings first home loss in regulation
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- You can bet Red Wings general manager Ken Holland will be burning up the phone lines to the NHL offices in Toronto today.

The Dallas Stars skated out of Joe Louis Arena with a 3-1 victory Wednesday night, handing the Wings their first regulation home loss of the season and stopping their seven-game point streak.

After scoring 19 goals in their previous three games, the Wings technically got only one past Stars backup goalie Alex Auld. But they will argue for an asterisk on this one.

Down 2-1 six minutes into the third period, the Wings appeared to score the tying goal. Brad May picked up a rebound and tucked a backhander between the post and Auld's left pad. The puck was clearly in the net, but referees Stephane Auger and Dennis LaRue waved it off, saying they had blown the whistle and, thus, the play was not reviewable.

"It was not blown dead," coach Mike Babcock said. "It was a goal. The guy never meant to blow the whistle; it was a shot. The puck went in on a shot. It was as dumb as anything I've ever seen."

The referees quickly ruled the play unreviewable, even though the puck was loose and outside the crease the entire time until May shot it. There wasn't any prolonged scramble. But after the initial call, the league office, which monitors and rules on all video replays, called back and talked to LaRue again.

"Toronto probably thought there was no way you can shoot it in the net and have it waved off," Babcock joked. "They tried to make a way for him to change it."

NHL officials are not made available to the media following games. Most likely an explanation will be released out of Toronto today.

Five minutes later, the Stars added an insurance goal. With Jonathan Ericsson off for a holding penalty that the Wings protested, Loui Eriksson knocked in a cross-crease pass from James Neal.

"Clearly, the shot was in the net," May said of his would-be goal. "I have no idea why that wasn't a goal. There was no whistle. It was a shot from the slot. I realize the refs are in a tough spot, but that's why we have video replay in hockey -- to make sure to make the right call in these circumstances.

"It makes no sense to me. It's a joke. It's 2-2 and a completely different outcome. I am not happy."

Despite the call, the Wings were outplayed most of the night.

"The bottom line is, they were better than us longer than us," Babcock said. "Tonight, we didn't want to shoot it, we wanted to turn it over. We couldn't overcome ourselves."

The Stars converted two power plays and killed off four Wings' power-play chances. They have now killed off 17 straight.

A brilliant individual play by Henrik Zetterberg seemed to spark the Wings after they had fallen behind, 2-0, early in the second period. He took a pass from Ville Leino just inside the blue line and skated in on his off wing. With Brad Richards on his back, Zetterberg cut in front of Auld, got the puck to his forehand and tucked it neatly under the crossbar for his ninth goal, his fourth in three games.

Goalie Jimmy Howard, making his fourth straight start, was stellar through two periods, despite giving up the two goals -- a fluky, power-play goal to Mike Ribeiro in the first (the shot was actually a pass that deflected off the stick of a sprawling Niklas Kronwall) and a slap shot from the point by Matt Niskanen in the second, on a play started by a takeaway in the Wings' zone.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Last Updated: November 21. 2009 7:27PM
Panthers 2, Red Wings 1 (OT)
Wings dominate, then give victory away
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- It's hard to imagine a point feeling any more worthless than the one the Red Wings took from their 2-1 overtime loss to the Panthers on Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

"When you get a point when you'd been losing in the game, like we did in Edmonton earlier, that feels more like a victory," said goalie Chris Osgood, who returned after missing the last four games. "But when you are winning and you give it away, it feels like you've lost."

The Wings had a 40-18 edge in shots in regulation, and according to the Wings' statistics, they allowed the Panthers just eight scoring chances -- two on the winning play.

"We didn't have much puck luck tonight," coach Mike Babcock said. "But I liked the way we played. The way we played tonight will win you a lot of hockey games."

Bryan McCabe fired a shot past Osgood 40 seconds into overtime. Osgood had made a strong save on a shot by former Plymouth Whaler Stephen Weiss, but the Wings could not corral the rebound. Weiss got it back on the point and made a quick pass to McCabe.

"It was a good shot," Osgood said. "I don't know if he meant for it to go there, but it was a good shot."

The Wings goal against Panthers backup goalie Scott Clemmensen came late in the second period, a power-play goal by Pavel Datsyuk.

The Panthers tied it at 8:13 of the third. Nathan Horton threw a pass through the crease that nicked Osgood's stick and went past Brian Rafalski to the tape of Weiss, who buried it.

"We were snake bit," Osgood said. "We hit some posts. We missed some open nets. I like that we didn't panic and we kept playing the same way. Earlier in the season we might have got out of our system and given up a lot of two-on-ones."

It took the Wings 38 minutes, 25 shots, four power plays and at least 11 quality scoring chances to get to Clemmensen. After Rafalski rescued a rebound, he dumped it to Henrik Zetterberg behind the net. Zetterberg fed Datsyuk, who got it in on his second whack.

Until that point, the Wings had chance after chance, especially in the first period.

Zetterberg was set up at the side of the net but his deflection went just wide. Datsyuk hit a post. Tomas Holmstrom deflected one wide. Patrick Eaves fired wide on a two-on-one break. Danny Cleary tipped one wide. Ville Leino, set up beautifully by Zetterberg, shot wide. Darren Helm's breakaway was thwarted by Clemmensen. Datsyuk was stopped on a shot between the circles.

The Wings kept steady pressure on two power plays. They had an 11-2 edge in shots in the period, an 8-1 edge in scoring chances and a 20-5 edge in hits.

They weren't as sharp in the second period (15-11 edge in shots), but again had chances. Zetterberg was stopped on a break-in. Helm, with the Wings shorthanded, had his second breakaway of the game and couldn't beat Clemmensen.

The Panthers are now unbeaten in their last five games and it was only their second victory at Joe Louis Arena in their history.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Last Updated: November 21. 2009 10:27PM
Red Wings 3, Canadiens 2, SO
Red Wings lose two-goal lead, but earn shootout victory
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Montreal -- It was a great hockey game Saturday night between two Original Six teams in front of a large and lively crowd at Bell Centre.

And after former Michigan Wolverine Mike Cammalleri scored twice (his 10th and 11th) in the third period to wipe out a two-goal lead, the Red Wings left happy, rescuing two points with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Canadiens.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the shootout, while Jimmy Howard made a great glove save on Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec hit one off the post.

The victory snaps the Wings' two-game losing streak and the Canadiens' two-game win streak.

Brad Stuart and Datsyuk scored power-play goals in the first period, but again, the Wings' prevent defense failed them.

Ice chips

The Canadiens, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of their franchise, wore blue throwback sweaters from 1909-1910.

... Stuart had eight shots in the first period alone.

... Brad May was a healthy scratch for the second straight game.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com

Last Updated: November 24. 2009 4:57PM
Predators 3, Red Wings 1
Loss proves Wings are a work in progress
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Nashville, Tenn. -- Here's how this thing works: To the Nashville Predators, beating the Red Wings, 3-1, Monday was a huge deal. It's their sixth straight win, their seventh straight at home, and it moves them past the Wings and into third place in a bunched-up Central Division.

To the Wings, the goal isn't to win the Central Division or be the best team in November -- it's to be in position to win a Stanley Cup.

"For us, we're not thinking about 22 games," goaltender Chris Osgood said before the game.

"We try to think about playing well down the stretch, playing well as a team and being ready going into the playoffs. If we win the Central, we win it. If we don't, we're still ready and rolling going into the playoffs."

That said, the Predators are feeling pretty good about themselves, having beaten the Wings five of the last seven meetings.

"I don't even worry about the Central Division, I just worry about us," coach Mike Babcock said. "I am worried about us getting better each and every day and keep competing.

"We're playing lots of kids and what jumps out at me is Abby (Justin Abdelkader) was 2-for-7 in the circle (faceoffs) and Helmer (Darren Helm) was 4-for-8. So we're chasing the puck all night. That's a couple of kids getting lessons on the road.

"It's part of our process right now."

So, apparently, is a streaky offense. After scoring 18 goals in three games, the Wings have managed five in the last four.

"Some nights, we score eight," Henrik Zetterberg said. "Other nights, we score one."

Credit the Predators' defense, too. David Legwand (Grosse Pointe) neutralized Pavel Datsyuk, limiting him to just one shot.

"That whole line did a good job," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "Their forwards only had nine shots after two periods."

The Predators scored a pair of power-play goals -- one by Jason Arnott and another by Martin Erat -- to take a 2-0 lead early in the second period.

"I thought 5-on-5 we played a pretty good game," Zetterberg said. "They scored on two power plays and then in the third period, we started to play more in their end. I thought they got a little tired and we got rolling, but we couldn't get more than one puck in the net."

Drew Miller got the lone Wings goal, his first, on a strong drive to the front of the net in the second period. That goal, by the way, broke a string of 10 straight scored by the Predators against the Wings, dating back to their 8-0 win on Feb. 28.

Babcock rewarded Miller by moving him up to the top line with Zetterberg and Danny Cleary. Ville Leino was sent to the fourth line.

"Nothing was going on with that group and I felt he'd been doing all right, so I just put him there," Babcock said. "Just trying to move things around and shake up some guys and get them going a bit."

The Wings did dominate the third period, enjoying, at one point, a 15-2 edge in shots. But goalie Pekka Rinne was equal to the challenge.

"He was good, but we were unable to finish," Babcock said.

Just seconds after Osgood made a brilliant stick save on Marcel Goc, Erat got his second goal of the game to ice the win.

"I didn't like their second power-play goal and I didn't like that third goal," Babcock said. "We have to find a way to be better for 60 minutes."

Osgood, though, kept the Wings in the game early, especially in the first period.

The Wings' penalty-kill unit came into the game 26th in the league, and that was before Niklas Kronwall went down with a knee injury. But Babcock didn't blame this one on his defense.

"Those power-play goals had to do with our forwards, not our D-men," he said. "It wouldn't have mattered who we had out there. We just have to be better. We have to find a way to get more pucks in the net and we have to be better on the power play and killing penalties."

The Wings are now 4-5-2 on the road.

Last Updated: November 26. 2009 1:12AM
Thrashers 2, Red Wings 0
Frustration continues for Wings in loss to Thrashers
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- It might be time to call in a priest to bless the sticks, or maybe a witch doctor to remove the curse. Because no matter how hard the Red Wings grind, no matter how many shots and chances they create, the puck will not go into the net for them.

The Atlanta Thrashers and goalie Ondrej Pavelec came into Joe Louis Arena and handed the Wings their fourth straight loss, 2-0.

The Wings had 40 shots, 20 scoring chances -- no goals. Over the last five games, the Wings have fired 177 shots and all they have to show for it is five goals.

Nik Antropov had a goal and former Wing Slava Kozlov had a goal and an assist, as the Thrashers improved their road record to an impressive, 7-2-1.

By the end of the game, fans were chanting, "Let's go, Lions." Suffice to say, they were as frustrated as the Wings.

It wasn't for a lack of trying and it wasn't like the Thrashers' defense kept them bottled up -- plenty of open ice, plenty of chances. The Wings had the rink tilted the entire game. But the red light stayed off.

Coach Mike Babcock put Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg together for a couple of even-strength shifts, something he hasn't done since Jason Williams was injured. Didn't help.

Datsyuk made an unbelievable pass in the second period, lofting a soft pass over the back of the net. The puck went over the head of goalie Ondrej Pavelec and dropped into the crease, where both Todd Bertuzzi and Tomas Holmstrom were crashing. Holmstrom got a stick on it but couldn't beat Pavelec.

In the third, Bertuzzi broke up a play and went into the Thrashers' zone on a 2-on-1. Yet, he tripped before he could make a play. There was nobody near him, he simply lost an edge -- can you say snakebit?

Zetterberg had eight shots. Bertuzzi had four. Datsyuk created chance after chance.

Three power-play tries generated a bevy of opportunities but, again, no goals. The Wings have now cashed in just three of their last 20 power-play tries.

The puck steadfastly refused to go into the net. It was a carbon copy of the Wings' last home game, the overtime loss to the Florida Panthers when they fired 40 shots on goal and scored once.

Chance after chance went wanting. The Wings had six shots on goal and three scoring chances in the first five minutes of the game. Zetterberg had several great chances, one on a 2-on-1 feed from Ville Leino, another on a tip that went wide.

And, as is usually the case, on the Thrashers' first offensive rush, the Wings made a bad line change, leaving Jonathan Ericsson back alone to defend both Maxim Afinogenov and Antropov.

Afinogenov threaded a pass through to Antropov for the goal.

The Wings continued to threaten. Datsyuk couldn't corral a rebound in front of an open goal. Kirk Maltby and Darren Helm nearly poked one in from a scrum in front of the net. Datsyuk set up Holmstrom twice.

They had four chances on their first power play, three by Zetterberg. The other was a rebound chance for Brian Rafalski at the side of an open net that he couldn't control. There second power-play chance wasn't as effective, though Lidstrom just missed on a shot from the point and Leino was stopped on a wrap-around.

At the end of the first period the Wings had 19 shots and 10 scoring chances, and were trailing, 1-0.

Same story in the second. Right out of the gate, Datsyuk wiggled and waggled his way through the defense and fed a pass across the front of the net to Bertuzzi. It should have been a slam dunk, but somehow defenseman Ron Hainsey got his stick to the pass before Bertuzzi.

Soon after, with the Wings killing off a slashing penalty against Brett Lebda, Kozlov made it 2-0. The Wings appeared to have the penalty snuffed, but Kozlov made a quick burst through the middle and Ilya Kovalchuk hit him with a perfect pass at the blue line.

Kozlov sped past Lidstrom and beat Jimmy Howard for his third goal of the season and third power-play goal the Wings have allowed in the last two games.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489

Last Updated: November 28. 2009 1:00AM
Red Wings 4, Blues 3 (SO)
Red Wings get offense back on track in shootout win
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

St. Louis -- There was a palpable feeling of release Saturday when Tomas Holmstrom finished a pretty passing play between Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg early in the second period and ended the third-longest goal-less streak in Red Wings history.

There was another when Zetterberg bounced a shot into the net off defenseman Barret Jackman with 57 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

And then there was a feeling that justice was served when Todd Bertuzzi ended the shoot-out with a pretty backhand under the crossbar that gave the Red Wings a hard-earned and much-needed 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

"When Homer scored," Bertuzzi said, "everybody on the bench took a deep breath and realized, hey, we can score. This is something we needed desperately. We had to dig ourselves out of 2-0 hole. We will obviously address the slow start, but we will take the two points and run with it."

The victory not only ended the Wings' goal-less streak, which had reached 175:57, but their three-game losing streak, as well.

"Maybe this is the kind of game we needed to win," said Kris Draper, who scored the Wings' second goal. "We were down 2-0 and we still found a way to win. It was just nice to see us get a bounce or two. Maybe it's something we deserved for getting so many pucks to the net the last five or six games and having nothing to show for it."

They fired 217 shots on goal over the previous six games and had only five goals.

"We were just trying to do everything possible to get a puck in the net," said Darren Helm, who set up Draper's goal. "It's been so frustrating not being able to score with all the chances we have been creating, both our line and our team."

Draper's goal came when Helm threw the puck through the crease and off Patrick Eaves' skate. It bounced right onto Draper's stick.

Brad Boyes scored to give the Blues a 3-2 lead at 8:32 of the third and it looked like more frustration for the Wings, who kept constant pressure on goalie Chris Mason the rest of the period.

Zetterberg was set up beautifully by Ville Leino at the side of the net, but Mason stopped him

Later, Helm had Mason out of position and fired a backhand wide. He got his rebound, brought it in front and then fired it high over the net.

Helm, Eaves and Draper crashed the crease with 1:38 left but couldn't push it past Mason.

Finally, with goalie Jimmy Howard on the bench for an extra skater, Zetterberg's persistence was rewarded. With Pavel Datsyuk creating mayhem in front of the net, Zetterberg banged a shot off Jackman that deflected past Mason.

"If you keep going and keep putting pucks at the net, eventually one will go in," Zetterberg said. "It was nice to see the puck go in the net, I am not going to lie."

Howard, who kept the Wings in the game early and stopped 32 of 35 shots, came up big in the scoreless overtime on a point-blank chance for Paul Kariya. Then, in the shootout, after giving up a goal to first shooter Andy McDonald, he made a great glove save on Boyes, then beat David Perron and T.J. Oshie.

"That was just a gutsy effort by our guys," said Howard, who earned another start Monday against Dallas. "Hank made a great play (on the tying goal). Only special players can do that. Once we tied it, I took it upon myself to get us the extra point."

Datsyuk matched McDonald's goal, sticking a backhand under the crossbar. After Mason stopped Zetterberg and Danny Cleary, coach Mike Babcock sent Bertuzzi out as the first extra shooter.

Bertuzzi hadn't scored in eight games.

"That was nice for Bert," Babcock said. "He hadn't scored in a while and he was carrying the weight of the world around. Maybe he can relax now and just play."

Bertuzzi beat Mason the same way Datsyuk did, with a backhand roofer.

"That was probably an uglier version of Pavel's goal," Bertuzzi said. "But it's something I spend a lot of time working on. It's just nice to be put in that spot to do it."

Feel-good wins have been few and far between for the Wings this season, so they will savor this one.

"Yeah, when Homer finally scored that goal, I looked over at our bench," Howard said. "I don't think anybody was sitting down. They all jumped up. It was great to see and I knew the guys were going to feed off that."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489