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After blowing a 2-goal lead late in the third period Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, playing in his 1,300th game, stepped up and bailed his team out with an even later power-play goal to give Detroit a 5-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes last night.
With 46 seconds to go in the game, and with both teams battling at both ends of the ice for the puck, Phoenix’s Joel Perrault earned a trip to the penalty box for holding Marian Hossa. It took Lidstrom exactly 8 seconds to capitalize on that call with a shot from the point that beat Ilya Bryzgalov off the ensuing face-off.
“I tried to shoot it far side, on the ice, whether it was for a tip or just try to hit something,” Lidstrom said. “I think I got a lucky bounce. I think it hit their defenseman.”
Added Chris Osgood, who let in another soft goal in the form of a short-side blooper off the stick of Perrault:
“A lot of guys could take that shot and not go in, but Nick has a knack for placing it where he wants to, and he’s got a heavy shot.”
Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski wasn’t so lighthearted and voiced his opinion about the penalty call.
“It was a joke, an absolute joke,” Jovanovski said. “Forty-five seconds left in the game. The guys are battling for the puck. There were two penalties missed before that in the corner. He calls that, it’s embarrassing.”
Phoenix head coach Wayne Gretzky, although livid when the penalty and resulting goal took place, was a little more level-headed after the game.
“It was a penalty, I wasn’t debating that, but I really felt there were three hooks on our guys before that,” Gretzky said. “If we’re going to let things go in the last two minutes, let’s let them all go.
“Everybody’s human, everybody makes mistakes, everybody doesn’t see the same thing. To me, it was clear as day. Definitely a hook, not once, three times.”
Henrik Zetterberg, in his first game since missing three straight with back spasms, broke a 2-2 tie with a goal off a sweet pass from Datsyuk, and Marian Hossa scored twice. Said Wings coach mike Babcock:
“I thought Hoss was fantastic, he really had jump,” Babcock said. “Z and Pav have always been real good together, and if Hoss can create some magic with Fil and Mule (Franzen), that (line) can be a real good thing for us, too.”
Detroit will be at home on Saturday against Edmonton.
Paul Benvin covers the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers. Feel free to contact him with tips, video, or general dissension.
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Of course it was Lidstrom who beats the Coyotes…the guy just turns into an absolute monster whenever he plays Phoenix.