Red Wings 2, Sharks 1 (SO)

Hard work pays off for Red Wings in shootout victory

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Might as well get used to this. The way the Red Wings handled their business against a red-hot San Jose team Thursday, taking a hard-fought, 2-1 shootout win, is the way, the only way, they are going to have success this season.

"We're not going to win like we used to," coach Mike Babcock said. "We don't have that kind of team any more. With the group we have right now, and the injuries we have, we have to grind out games like this. We have a veteran core here that understands that."

The Wings got shootout goals from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg while Chris Osgood was stopping Dan Boyle and Ryane Clowe.

"We played smart tonight," said Osgood, who stopped 33 of 34 shots. "We didn't panic. We took care of the puck. We're getting back to playing the way we're capable of playing."

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.

"They play a lot like us," said Datsyuk, which is understandable since Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was an assistant under Babcock for three seasons. "They play five-men together, tight game, just like us. It's like facing a mirror."

It was another shut-down defensive performance by Osgood and the Wings' defense. Babcock matched 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.

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.

"You do that with a five-man unit and with Ozzie playing like he has," Zetterberg said. "We are playing like we're supposed to, and when we do that it's a lot easier to win."

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 Sharks goal came 14:41 into the second period. 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 his second in nine periods and one overtime.

"Goaltending is so important and Ozzie has been way stronger the last three games," Babcock said. "He's got to be feeling really good about himself. I don't care who you are and how much you've won in the past, it's good to get on a roll and get your confidence up. Good for him that he has that going now."

The Wings dominated the puck for most of the first 40 minutes but couldn't put the puck on net. Through two periods, they had 15 shot on goal and 15 missed shots.

The line of Helm, Eaves and Draper were buzzing all night. Todd Bertuzzi had countless opportunities, as did Ville Leino, who crashed the net hard a couple of times and came up empty.

"I knew this was going to be a good game," Babcock said. "They played last night, but they have some high-end players. I thought you had some world-class matchups with Hank and Joe Thornton and Pav and Marleau.

"I thought those centers in particular had good battles."

The Wings are on a 4-0-1 streak.

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 American Hockey League.

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489