More photos » Carlos Osorio - AP

Pavel Datsyuk celebrates his goal with Johan Franzen as Andrej Sekera watches.

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And...breathe.

The Red Wings squandered a two-goal lead to the Buffalo Sabres, and as the game went to overtime, there was a definite sense of fear that, while the team had earned a point against a non-conference opponent, that team needed to get two points.

Fortunately, it took them just 31 seconds.

Brian Rafalski put a one-timer past Ryan Miller to take advantage of the fourth power play of the night and give the Red Wings a 3-2 win, reclaiming the eighth playoff spot from the Calgary Flames, who were idle Saturday night.

It was the ninth straight game with a power play goal for Detroit, and their 12th straight home game.

Pavel Datsyuk and Patrick Eaves also scored for the Red Wings, overcoming a pair of goals from Jochen Hecht.

The Wings jumped out early. Johan Franzen took full advantage of the Joe Louis Arena boards to fire a hard pass to Datsyuk, who was skating in towards Miller. Datsyuk fired a hard 12 footer that went past Miller for his team-leading 21st of the season and his fourth goal in five games. Niklas Kronwall picked up the other assist.

The Red Wings kept their foot on the gas: 73 seconds later, Darren Helm put the puck on Eaves stick as he crossed the far blue-line. Eaves kicked it into high gear, held on as Craig Rivet stuck his stick into Eaves skates to try to break it up, and put the puck through an exposed Miller for his 10th of the season.

But the two-goal lead wouldn't last long. Jason Pominville's shot was blocked by Jimmy Howard, but as seems to be a recurring theme, Howard was sloppy with the rebound, which put the puck right on Hecht's stick. He didn't miss, and the lead was cut to 2-1.

In the second period, Hecht struck again. Tim Connolly's shot was blocked by Howard, and the puck squirted out to Pominville. Pominville struggled to handle it, but Hecht took a swing at it. The puck deflected off Howard's right shoulder and into the net to tie the game. It was Hecht's 16th of the season and his second two-goal game of the year (his first was on New Year's Day against Atlanta).

With 1:13 left in regulation, Tyler Myers flipped the puck over the glass in the defensive zone, earning a delay of game penalty. That penalty carried over to overtime. With the play securely in the Wings offensive zone, Nicklas Lidstrom set up Rafalski, who wound up and beat Miller to his right side for his sixth goal of the year and his first game-winner of the year.

The Red Wings will face Calgary in the final game of their regular season series on Monday night.

Player of the game: Brian Rafalski. A game-winner in overtime? That's a player of the game.

Jerry S. Mendoza - AP

Henrik Zetterberg looks to return to form from earlier in the campaign when he netted the only hat trick of the season for the Red Wings on November 14.

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The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their three-game home stand as they face Ryan Miller (brother of the Red Wings' Drew Miller) and the Buffalo Sabres.

The Wings are coming off a big 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild Tuesday night. That win was tempered, however, as the Calgary Flames kept pace with a 2-0 victory over Ottawa later in the evening. That leaves the Red Wings a point behind for the final playoff spot with 15 games left. The Flames are off tonight.

One of the keys tonight: seeing if Henrik Zetterberg can keep it going after head coach Mike Babcock mixed up his lines. Zetterberg had a goal and two assists in Thursday's game and seemed to look more like himself than he has in a while.

Game time is 7:00 pm ET. The game is on FS Detroit and MSG. Comment away below.

More photos » Paul Chiasson - AP

2 months ago: Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller makes a save against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Monday, Dec. 14, 2009 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Paul Chiasson)

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One of my top ten Bob Marley songs, time for another themed post? Sure. It'll start with lyrics from the song in bold then go into the preview.

• There was a Buffalo soldier  or as he's more commonly known, Ryan Miller. Miller's heroics during the Olympics should earn him a standing ovation as he returns to his home state to start in net tonight. Miller helped to carry the heavy load for the United States in the Olympics and his outstanding performance should be applauded tonight.
• In the heart of America    okay so maybe not quite the heart of America but the game tonight is in the Joe, where the Red Wings are 18-10-5 not the best record but not the worst either. Buffalo is 15-12-3 on the road.
• Fighting on arrival       is pretty much the way Drew Miller has played since he got in Detroit and boy has it payed huge dividends for the Red Wings. Drew has more goals this year with the Red Wings than he had his entire NHL career. He's quickly becoming one of those guys that Detroit fans have a soft spot for because of the way he hustles night in and night out.
• Fighting for survival    is what the Red Wings have been doing the past  couple of weeks. Heading down the final 15 games, they sit one point back of Calgary for the 8th spot in the West. Detroit got a little bit of help in terms of looking in the rear-view last night as Dallas lost, leaving Detroit 5 points ahead of the 10th and 11th place teams. Calgary is idle.
• If you know your history     Jimmy Howard starts for the 15th consecutive game. He's really starting to push his resume towards Calder Trophy status. His record is now 25-15-8 with a 2.35 GAA and a .924 SV%. Jimmy will need to be on his game tonight against a solid Buffalo team.
• Then you would know where I'm coming from  when I say that the Red Wings need to keep passing like they have been recently. It's leading to better scoring opportunities and an all around better game.
• Then you wouldn't have to ask me   about the leading scorer for Buffalo. Thomas Vanek leads the Sabres with 22 goals. Tim Connolly leads Buffalo with overall points at 58 (15 G, 43 A)
• Just who the heck do I think I am?   Brett Lebda's been playing pretty exceptional of late. Maybe he just flipped a switch and things have finally come together for him. He's been a + in 5 of the last 6 games and has had noticeably improved play. I think eight_legged_freaks was on to something perhaps.
• Lastly, check out Die By The Blade for all your Sabres related news, notes, and insight. 

Kick 'Em When They're Down vs Wild- When it comes to participation, I'm a very gracious winner.  When it comes to the Red Wings winning...not so much.  I grabbed ALL of the comments from yesterday's game thread at Hockey Wilderness (there was only 6) and shared them with you along with my thoughts.  Plus a little extra bitterness from Pinky just for fun of it.  We're staying classy here at WIM.

 Wasn't That Weird?- ...like a Dutch accent.  Kyle from Babcock's Death Stare discusses just how well Detroit played last night and the lack of stress that it caused.  And yes, he even uses bullet points.

I Don't Hate the Wild So Much When We're Beating Them- The lovely ladies from Hockeytown Static give us their thoughts from last night's contest.  Title pretty much sums it up, eh?  Regardless, If you haven't wondered over to this site yet, you most definately should.

Only One Word Will Suffice- If you haven't experienced an Abel to Yzerman live blog...you haven't lived...as a mad crazy juvenilistic Red Wings fanatic, that is.  Go and check out the 540+ comments for last night's game.  There's always some doozys to be found.

Red Wings 5, Wild 1: Post Game Snipes- As always, Kris from Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle gives us bullet points galore along with answered questions and even a few mini awards while discussing the beat down in Hockeytown last night.  But the Golden Facepalm award was exported to a southern city...click to find out where.

Let me preface this post by saying this is no way meant to be an actual prediction, mainly for kicks and giggles and a way of looking at the percentages for each team based on home and away records.

The way I added them up is this. Negative points for opponent's total point percentage and home/away point percentage added up to the Detroit total point percentage and home/away point percentage. Point percentage, as I've used is basically how many games a team has earned points in.

The way a game is decided between win or loss is like this. Win is anything above .05 (or 5%). Ties for anything below 5% but above 2%. Negative points automatically make it a loss. Not an exact science by any means, and its not intended to be. Just a way to look at the schedule and predict based off of records thus far.

Final total: 7-3-5 (19 points) Yeah, the 5 is kind of unlikely in terms of that many ties. Just games I had trouble deciding one way or the other based on the points and previous games this year.

Final record: 39-26-17 (95 points)

The 95 points would put the Wings in the playoffs by way of James Mirtle's numbers.

How do you all think the Wings will end the season?

More photos » Bill Kostroun - AP

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The Red Wings have always been a team that's not afraid to make a splash at the trade deadline. I mean, don't you remember the year they added Bill Ranford, Wendel Clark, Ulf Samuelsson, and Chris Chelios at the same deadline? That was pretty weird, wasn't it?

This year, Detroit's moves likely won't be remembered fondly the way the 1999 trade deadline was. But the two players they did pick up are technically young enough to be considered prospects. Both of them are in a good position this season on a Grand Rapids team that's essentially just auditioning young players for next season. As two players with a couple of AHL seasons under each of their belts, it's not at all a stretch to think that either could turn some heads in the Detroit front office.

The first trade that Detroit made was trading Kris Newbury to the New York Rangers for forward Jordan Owens. Owens does have a very good chance to make a splash for Detroit -- considering he's already under contract for next season. Owens is a product of the OHL, having played three seasons for the Mississauga IceDogs. His best season came in his last, his overaged season, where he put up 74 points in 60 games, including 32 goals.

His first professional season consisted of a split between Hartford (AHL) and Charlotte (ECHL), with 14 points in 41 games and 13 in 20, respectively. He put up 37 in 67 last year, his first full season in the AHL, and was a +17 on the season -- good for 4th on the team. He played in 50 games for Hartford this season before being acquired by Detroit. 

Owens got a long look in the pre-season for a regular roster spot in New York. He's praised for his honest two-way style of play, and the fearlessness he plays the game with despite average size (6'0, 189). He plays a physical game and isn't afraid to drop the gloves. While still a long shot, there's a chance Owens gets a long look from Detroit next season as a possible injury callup.

Later in the day, Detroit got together with the Calgary Flames to swap Andy Delmore for Riley Armstrong. Armstrong is not under contract for next season, but at 25, he's still young enough to have some potential. The brother of Atlanta's Colby Armstrong, Riley got his start through two years in the WHL, his best season coming with 44 points in 69 games in 03-04. He spent the next five seasons in the San Jose system, even getting two games in with the big club last year.

He signed with Calgary in the offseason, but was limited to just 38 games due to some injuries. He had produced 11 goals and 19 points in that time, close to his career best pace the he set last year when he had 42 points with Worcester. Like Owens, Armstrong is known for being equally fearless, playing the agitator/energy role. He's a good skater who will never be accused of taking a shift off. He's got a good shot, but doesn't have the vision or creativity to ever be a big point producer. However, he's proven to be a late bloomer, and he'll have every chance of earning a new contract with a strong finish in Grand Rapids.

Statistical report after the jump.

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More photos » Carlos Osorio - AP

Drew Miller's first career short-handed goal gets past Josh Harding and Andrew Ebbett Thursday night as part of the Red Wings' 5-1 win.

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You know your team had a good night when the guy with a pair of goals has to settle for second star of the game.

Johan Franzen's sixth and seventh of the season fell behind Henrik Zetterberg's goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings played a full sixty minutes to get a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

The Wings had a 3-0 lead after 10:15, but didn't let up as they've been wont to do lately, and it showed. Zetterberg, who seemed to be struggling over the past few games, played strong over his 19:46 on the ice. Drew Miller picked up his first career short-handed goal. And Tomas Holmstrom scored from 50 feet away.

After a pair of third-period letdowns, the Red Wings kept the intensity going into the third, outshooting the Wild 8-5.

The Red Wings also kept their home power play goal streak going: it's now at 12 straight home games.

Jimmy Howard made 21 saves to further his Calder Trophy campaign. Josh Harding, who got the start after Niklas Backstrom sat out with what the Wild reported as a lower body injury.

To add injury to insult, Guillaume Latendresse was taken to a hospital for observation after Brian Rafalski hit him with a high-stick just underneath the bottom of the helmet. Latendresse fell to the ground in pain, but was able to leave the ice under his own power with assistance from a Wild trainer.

The Red Wings jumped out early. On a passing series that made it look like a power play, the puck ended up on Franzen's stick. His hard shot hit Holmstrom and trickled into the net. Brett Lebda and Holmstrom picked up assists.

With Mikko Koivu serving his second penalty of the period, the Wings scored what may be their oddest goal of the year. Zetterberg made a setup pass to Holmstrom, who was out by the faceoff dot. Holmstrom made what appeared to be a dump in, but his "shot" went off Nick Schultz's foot, and Harding wasn't expecting the change of direction. Holmstrom's 19th of the season was a 50-footer, with assists to Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Fifty-six seconds later, the Wings would strike again. This time it was Kris Draper who fired a shot in that Harding handled, but Patrick Eaves managed to grab the rebound and skate around the back of the net, where he found a wide open Zetterberg with three Wild players near him, but not covering him. Zetterberg buried it to earn his 19th of the season.

With only 11 seconds left in the period, the Wild got on the board. Former University of Michigan player Andrew Ebbett's shot towards the crease deflected off of Brad Stuart's foot and past Howard for his 24th of the year. Martin Havlat and Marek Zidlicky each picked up a point.

In the second period, the Red Wings took advantage of a Miller takeaway on Cam Barker in the Wild offensive zone to create a two-on-none with Rafalski serving a penalty. Valtteri Filppula appeared to overskate the goal, but managed to put on the brakes and pass the puck back to Miller. The puck went off Miller's chest and into the net for his first career short-handed goal and eighth of the season. Niklas Kronwall earned the second assist.

Finally, in the third, a neutral-zone turnover was retrieved by Zetterberg, who dumped the puck to Franzen. He skated in and put a wrister in the back of the net for his second of the night, seventh of the season, and sixth in the nine games since returning from the injured list.

The Red Wings host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Player Of The Game: Henrik Zetterberg. Beyond the three points, Zetterberg seemed to have his groove back for the first time since the Olympic break tonight. The team needs him to perform to have a chance to make the playoffs.