It turns out that their escape from their shootout woes was only a one-night respite for the Detroit Red Wings.
Both Corey Perry and Jacob Silfverberg scored on Jimmy Howard in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks dropped the Wings 4-3 Monday at the Honda Center.
The Wings fell to 3-9 in the shootout and Howard to 1-8. The Detroit goalie has stopped just nine of 24 shootout attempts he’s faced this season.
“It’s a lottery,… Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk said. “Like 50-50.
“It means more practice every day if we want to win extra point. It starts in practice.…
Detroit squandered a 2-0 third-period lead, allowing three goals in four minutes, and needed Riley Sheahan’s goal to force the game to overtime.
“After 2-0 we tried to more be safety and go a bit back and this is why this maybe happened,… Datsyuk said. “They were shooting everything at net and following rebounds.
“We kind of started playing a little bit harder when his happens and saved game. But it cost us. We missed a few goals, but then we scored and it’s tie game. But if we had just kept playing the way we did in first two periods.…
Detroit is 2-0-1 halfway through its six-game road trip, opening the swing with a 3-2 shootout win at Chicago, followed by a 7-6 overtime win at Dallas.
“We know these are all great teams and it’s going to be tough games,… Datsyuk said. “So far, I guess we’re happy.…
Datsyuk Dazzles In the NHL, the acronym PPG stands for power-play goals. It can also represent points per game.
In Detroit, it simply stands for Pavel’s Perfect Game.
Datsyuk was at it again Monday, lighting up the Ducks for a pair of goals.
“He’s bringing it every night but he’s not just putting up just points,… Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “He’s doing all the little things right. He leads the way for us.
“Whether that’s winning a battle in your own zone, skating the puck out or making the easy play off the glass, he just always makes the right play, making the right decision and younger guys can learn from that.…
Amazingly, Datsyuk has never recorded a regular-season hat trick in his 871-game NHL career, though he did register one against Dallas during the 2008 playoffs.
The two goals gave Datsyuk 49 points in 47 games and among the NHL’s top 30 point producers, he’s one of eight averaging better than a point per game.
The leaderboard: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh 1.08 Tyler Seguin, Dallas 1.07 Patrick Kane, Chicago 1.06 Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh 1.05 Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia 1.05 Nicklas Backstrom, Washington 1.04 Datsyuk 1.04 John Tavares, NY Islanders 1.01
“Pav is the magic man for a reason,… Kronwall said. “He does things out there with the puck that no one else can do.
“We’re extremely happy that he’s on our team and not another team.…
With his two goals, Datsyuk tied former Wing Vyacheslav Kozlov (853) for fifth all-time in points recorded by a Russian-born NHLer.
Stanley Steamer Jonas Gustavsson will get the start Tuesday as Detroit visits Los Angeles to face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Kings.
“He’s starting for sure,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
That means Gustavsson’s last two starts will have come on the road against the two teams that battled in last spring’s Stanley Cup final. His previous start was a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in which he separated his shoulder on the winning goal by Derick Brassard.
Gustavsson returned to action Saturday in relief of Howard in Dallas and got the win as the Wings rallied for a 7-6 overtime decision over the Stars.
“He got 10 minutes the other night and got himself a win so let’s get going,… Babcock said.
Injury Updates The Wings played without captain Henrik Zetterberg (upper-body injury) and defenseman Kyle Quincey (lower-body injury) and the prognosis as to when either might play again remains uncertain.
“I talked to him,… Detroit GM Ken Holland said of Zetterberg. “He got punched in the head (by Dallas captain Jamie Benn). He didn’t feel great after the game, so anytime you have any kind of head injury and you don’t feel good, we’re not going to put you in the lineup.…
Zetterberg’s prognosis for Tuesday’s game against the Kings appears unlikely.
“We’ll probably wait to see how he feels tomorrow,… Holland said. “I probably would say it’s doubtful for tomorrow, but I think the final decision will be made tomorrow.…
Quincey’s return date seems to be even further down the road. He’s missed three games and more absences are in his immediate future.
“He’s got some anti-inflammatory drugs so hopefully that works and he’s back up and running again soon,… Holland said, while not expecting to see him on this road trip.
“If you’re not playing tonight we’re not putting you in tomorrow. It’s probably Saturday at the earliest. If you look at it, he didn’t skate Friday, he didn’t skate Saturday, didn’t skate Sunday, didn’t skate Monday. Wednesday is an off day. “Realistically, I think the best we can hope for is Saturday and then after Saturday we play Wednesday. Realistically, the earliest we can hope that he’s ready to go is Saturday. In the meantime, hopefully he gets better every day.…
Joakim Andersson was to take Zetterberg’s spot, but when he fell ill prior to the game, Daniel Cleary got the call.
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