It’s no backhanded compliment to suggest that the Detroit Red Wings’ season has been one fashioned via consistency.
Third-period goals by Pavel Datysuk and Luke Glendening, the latter’s tally coming with 1:15 left in regulation time and both of them on backhand shots, earned the Wings a come-from-behind 3-2 win Thursday over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center.
“The game was fair,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “They competed harder than we did in the first, won all the races and all the battles and Howie (Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard) was good. “Then I thought we took the game over basically in the second and third and (San Jose goalie) Niemi was really, really good to keep them in the game but we just kept coming and found a way to get it done.
“It was great to see Glennie get rewarded with his eighth goal of the year.…
Datsyuk’s goal was his seventh in the last seven games and gave him 5-3-8 totals over the past five games and 7-8-15 in the past 12 games.
The Wings are now 3-1-1 on their six-game road trip that concludes Saturday afternoon at Nashville against the Predators, along with Detroit the only two NHL teams yet to go consecutive games this season without collecting a point.
The result also ended Detroit’s four-game losing streak against the Sharks.
Milestone Men The victory also moved three Red Wings up the ladder in unique categories.
The victory gave Babcock 1,000 points earned as coach of the Red Wings, the most of any active coach with one team. Boston’s Claude Julien (752) is next on the list.
Meanwhile, making 20 saves for the victory, Howard pulled even with Jon Casey (170) for 10th all-time in NHL wins by a U.S.-born goaltender. Howard took exactly 100 fewer games (325-425) than Casey to reach that total.
“We just kept chipping away, chipping away, chipping away and we found a way to walk out with two points here tonight,… Howard said.
Datsyuk’s goal moved him past former Wing Vyacheslav Kozlov (853) for sole possession of fifth all-time in NHL points scored by a Russian-born player.
Teemu Time Teemu Pulkkinen tallied Detroit’s opening goal on a power play when he utilized his much talked about one-timer to bury a shot past good friend Niemi. Both are from Vantaa, Finland.
“I had chances in games before and I feel like I’ve been kind of unlucky and didn’t score, so it was good to get the one goal tonight and get the confidence up and going,… Pulkkinen said of netting his second NHL goal.
Pulkkinen was leading the AHL in goals (30) and points (57) when he was recalled from Grand Rapids for this road trip but admitted that finding the net in hockey’s best league is far more challenging than at the minor-league level.
“It’s been tough for me,… Pulkkinen said. “I’m a guy who’s used to scoring goals in the AHL and I haven’t scored here that much.…
The unit of Joakim Andersson-Stephen Weiss and Pulkkinen was Detroit’s most consistent forward group on the night.
“I thought Pulkkie was really dangerous,… Babcock said. “And Weiss and Andy were a real good line for us.
“They controlled all the shifts they had and our best line maybe early and fit in well with the group as the game went on. Good for them.…
Babcock is seeing slow but steady progress from rookie forward Pulkkinen with each passing game.
“He’s still a work in progress, like all kids,… Babcock said. “He’s a guy who’s a real shooter. It’s very clear in the National Hockey League that you’ve got less opportunity to shoot the puck.
“You’ve got to learn to shoot it off a bad pass, or a good pass or no pass. You’ve just got to find a way to create your own offense.…
As to Pulkkinen’s long-term status in Detroit, it’s up to him whether he stays in the show.
“I think all players that come up we give them an opportunity to do that,… Babcock said. “They tell you by their play whether they’re ready to stay here or go down.
“We like to have them down there a long time. We just try to make them better players.…
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