Wings Win in OT

While their play had picked up, the Red Wings left Florida without a single point to show for their efforts. With things getting heated at the bottom of the playoff race, Detroit could really use two points to distance themselves from the crowd. However, those points would not be easy to come by against a tough St. Louis team fighting for the division lead. After falling behind the Red Wings would battle back in the third to tie it up before winning the game in extra time.

The first period started out very slowly as would be expected with two excellent defensive teams looking for points. Both teams did an excellent job of shutting down the neutral zone and exiting their own zone quickly. Later in the period, the game really started to open up as both teams had a number of good chances. Despite the chances and a late St. Louis power play, neither team was able to capitalize and the period ended in a scoreless draw.

Red Wings started the period with the Zetterberg line generating a number of excellent chances. However the momentum would be halted by penalties and the inability of the penalty kill to maintain their recent form. The Blues generated a number of good looks and eventually it would pay off as a shot by Steen found its way through a crowd to beat a helpless Jimmy Howard, 1-0 St. Louis. The later half of the second period was a parade of icings as both teams eliminated any hope of carrying through the neutral zone.

Just 24 seconds into the third the Red Wings got a break as a shot went off the face of Chris Butler right onto Cole’s stick, who buried it to make it a 1-1 game. The game really started to heat up as the third period wore on with multiple skirmishes after the whistles and a rare fight from Drew Miller. The Red Wings got a huge chance on the PP with less than 7 minutes remaining but St. Louis was up to the task and kept them from generating any real offense. With only 80 seconds, remaining the Red Wings would get one more chance to finish the game as Berglund was called for tripping Kronwall.

Despite not finishing it in regulation, the Red Wings would need only 24 seconds in OT before Abdelkader would put in a Zidlicky rebound with a broken stick to give the Red Wings a big 2 points.

Finally, the Red Wings get off the losing streak and earn two points over a very good St. Louis squad. Even before earning the two point things were looking up in the motor city. After a week of solid showings, the team was playing up to their extremely high standards, even if the results were not following. With the two points, the Red Wings get some breathing room over the battle for the final spot and have a little more comfort in their playoff spot. With Datsyuk set to return soon this team is rounding back into the form that made people believe they could challenge for the Eastern Conference championship.