EDMONTON, Alberta: The Detroit Red Wings were feeling rather fortunate to have ended up with the win yesterday.
Pavel Datsyuk scored at 3:39 of overtime to give Detroit a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, snapping the Red Wings’ three-game skid.
Datsyuk made a nice move to get past defender Jeff Petry and blasted a shot past Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.
“We didn’t have anything to lose in that third period. We were on the road, we didn’t have any pressure, we just had to go play,” Datsyuk said.
“Mule (Johan Franzen) made a perfect play getting the puck in the neutral zone and giving me a good pass. I was able to come in with some speed, which made it tough for the defenseman who was at the blue line.”
Petry was also a factor on the tying goal as he scored on his own net to tie the score at 2-2 on a goal credited to Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall with 5:53 to go in regulation. Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard had 30 saves.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock said he was glad to see his team rally late after a disappointing first 40 minutes.
“In the first two periods we weren’t very competitive,” he said. “We weren’t getting any time in the offensive zone, we weren’t physical or competitive on the puck, we weren’t good enough. In the loss to Calgary the other night I thought we were really good and turned the puck over.
“Tonight I thought we were no good and then got playing in the third. I don’t think that’s the recipe for success. We need to play a full 60 minutes. But I thought our guys really dug in and got competitive at the end.”
Taylor Jall and Sam Gagner had the Oilers’ goals, and Dubnyk finished with 25 saves.
“It’s disappointing because we had the game under control,” Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said. “We got pushed back by a very strong push by Detroit at the end and couldn’t create any offence when we needed it.” Agencies
