The puck got past Columbus Blue Jackets‘ goaltender Steve Mason and into the net off Todd Bertuzzi‘s foot, only to be quickly waved off as being kicked in. But the Roger Nielson Video Room in Toronto called for a review.
After a season in which it seemed the Detroit Red Wings couldn’t catch a break on video replays, they finally had one go their way when the on-ice official was overruled and the goal counted, giving the Red Wings a 3-1 lead .
It turned out to be a critical review, as R.J. Umberger would score with 1:13 left to cut the lead to 3-2, and the Red Wings would hold on for their seventh straight win.
Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for Detroit, while Jimmy Howard stopped 20 shots to pick up his 34th win of the season.
The Red Wings tightened their grip on sixth place in the Western Conference, but were unable to make up ground as the Nashville Predators came back with three straight goals to win 3-2 over the St. Louis Blues.
The Wings would strike first and early. Datsyuk took the puck along the boards to the left of Mason. He put a backhander on the stick of Holmstrom. Holmstrom put a four-footer past Mason to earn his 22nd of the season just 2:21 into the game.
But a bad turnover cost the Red Wings: Howard’s pass behind the net towards Brad Stuart was caught by Derek Dorsett. He tipped it to a streaking Andrew Murray, who came in hard and beat Howard far side to get his fifth of the season.
In the second period, with Grant Clitsome in the penalty box, the Red Wings would capitalize. Holmstrom would put the puck on Datsyuk’s stick on the left side of Mason. Datsyuk, spun around, skated across the middle of the ice, waited for a clearing in the ice, then fired a shot that went over Mason’s right shoulder and hit the top of the net. Datsyuk’s 25th of the goal extends his team lead, and Johan Franzen picked up the second assist.
Early in the third, a Henrik Zetterberg shot towards the net deflected off of Bertuzzi’s skate and into the net. The officials on the ice waved it off initally, ruling that the puck went in on a kicking motion, but after a lengthy delay, the video review room in Toronto felt otherwise, giving Bertuzzi his 18th of the season, with Brad Stuart also getting an assist.
Finally, as Patrick Eaves sat for hooking and with Mason pulled for an extra attacker, Umberger tipped in a pass from Fedor Tyutin to get his 22nd of the year and tighten the lead with 1:13 left. But Columbus couldn’t get anything else past Howard, and the Wings walked away with the victory.
The Red Wings will face the Predators on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.
Player of the game: Pavel Datsyuk. Yes, both he and Holmstrom picked up a point and an assist tonight. But we’ll be talking about the Datsyuk goal for a while.
