Wings 2, Sharks 1 (SO)

Hard work pays off for Wings

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- After playing to a 1-1 standoff for 65 minutes, the Red Wings finally finished off the road-weary San Jose Sharks in a shootout, 2-1 Thursday, running their unbeaten streak to five games.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored the shootout goals for the Wings. Chris Osgood stopped Dan Boyle and Ryane Clowe.

The Wings, down 1-0 after two periods, tied it at 5:38 of the third thanks to some hard work by Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves. Helm won the puck behind the Sharks goal, drove it to the front of the net but was knocked off the puck before he could shoot. Eaves picked it up and fed Nick Lidstrom at the left point.

His shot was saved by Evegni Nabokov, but Helm helped jar it loose and Zetterberg cleaned it up, poking it in from under the goalie's skate.

Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation. Kris Draper wound up with a breakaway in the final 10 seconds but couldn't get a shot on goal.

The chances continued for the Wings in overtime. Helm made a strong rush and sent his own rebound wide of the net. Todd Bertuzzi had a couple of opportunities, as did Danny Cleary. As was the case all night, the puck did not cross the goal line.

It was another shut-down defensive performance by Chris Osgood and the Wings' defense. Coach Mike Babcock matched Pavel Datsyuk with the Sharks' leading scorer Patrick Marleau (22 points). Marleau, riding a nine-game point streak, was kept off the board and limited to just two shots in regulation.

The Sharks' other gunners -- Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley -- were held in check most of the night by Zetterberg, Danny Cleary and Jason Williams. Thornton and Heatley had just one shot each.

The Sharks, coming off a shootout win in Columbus Wednesday, were a step slow out of the gate and the Wings took it to them for the better part of the first two periods.

Yet, because the Wings couldn't seem to find the target, they trailed 1-0.

The lone goal came 14:41 into the second period. Patrick Eaves and Helm got caught deep and the Sharks were off on a three-on-two rush. It became three on Brett Lebda when Jonathan Ericsson fell down. Joe Callahan fed Logan Couture who beat Osgood in between his pads for his first NHL goal.

It was the first goal Osgood allowed in 119.58, and just the second in nine periods.

The Wings, though, dominated the puck for most of the first 40 minutes. Cleary had a scoring chance on the first shift of the game. Zetterberg turned defenseman Dan Boyle inside-out and went in alone on goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Both of their shots missed the net.

Datsyuk and Draper both shot high on scoring chances. Eaves, who had three shots and three hits in the period, deflected a shot just wide. Ville Leino crashed the net twice and never got a shot to Nabokov.

Thus, despite the huge territorial advantage, the Sharks had an 11-7 edge in shots in a scoreless first period.

It was more of the same in the second. The Wings got a few more pucks at Nabokov, but the best chances were off the target. Helm fired wide on a two-on-one rush with Eaves. Todd Bertuzzi had the puck in front of the net but waited too long before pulling the trigger and was snuffed out. Holmstrom had a tip go wide during one of two power play chances the Wings had in the second. Draper and Brad Stuart both had scoring chances stopped by Nabokov.

Through two periods, the Wings had as many missed shots (15) as shots on goal (15) and were empty on nine scoring chances.

The Sharks were without captain Rob Blake, who was put on the injured list with an upper body injury. The Sharks called up both Joe Callahan and Derek Joslin from Worcester of the AHL.