Red Wings 3, Avalanche 2 (OT): Pavel Datsyuk scored his second goal of the game at 4:44 of overtime as visiting Detroit completed a sweep of its three-game season series against Colorado.
With time winding down in the extra session, captain Henrik Zetterberg made a backhand pass attempt from the left faceoff circle that went on net and was stopped by Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Datsyuk flicked the rebound past the goaltender with one hand on his stick, giving the Red Wings their second win in five contests.
Rookie Gustav Nyquist also scored, Zetterberg notched two assists and Jimmy Howard made 33 saves for Detroit, which remained one point ahead of eighth-place St. Louis in the Western Conference and climbed within one of idle Minnesota for sixth.
Mark Olver and PA Parenteau each recorded a goal and Giguere stopped 28 shots for the Avalanche, who are 1-6-1 in their last eight games.
Datsyuk cashed in on a power-play opportunity at 8:27 of the first period to open the scoring, but Olver lifted a backhand shot past Howard during a breakaway 3:09 later to forge a tie. It took Detroit just 13 seconds to regain the lead as Nyquist pounced on a turnover and tucked the puck in at the right post. Parenteau again knotted the contest at 6:29 of the third as he converted a feed from Jamie McGinn.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The two-goal performance was Datsyuk's first since Nov. 19, 2011 against Los Angeles. ... Detroit went 1-for-4 on the power play. It is 10-for-33 over its last nine road games after going 0-for-36 over its first 10 contests away from home. ... LW Patrick Bordeleau and Ds Greg Zanon and Shane O'Brien were the only members of the Avalanche not to register a shot on goal. C Matt Duchene led the team with five shots.
Detroit | Colorado | |
Pavel Datsyuk 2 | Points | Mark Olver 1 |
Pavel Datsyuk 2 | Goals | Mark Olver 1 |
Henrik Zetterberg 2 | Assists | Matt Duchene 1 |
Pavel Datsyuk 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jimmy Howard .943 | Save Percentage | Jean-Sebastien Giguere .903 |
Jimmy Howard 33 | Saves | Jean-Sebastien Giguere 28 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Detroit | 31 | 3 | 1-4 | 3-3 | 6 | 28 |
Colorado | 35 | 2 | 0-3 | 3-4 | 8 | 26 |