The Red Wings are going to be disappointed with this outcome, after badly outplaying the Florida Panthers for much of the game. The first period, particularly, was all Detroit, who outshot Florida 11-2 in the frame, and 40-20 overall. But, it only took 40 seconds of overtime to swing the tides, and the wrong team left Joe Louis with two points.
Chris Osgood, playing in his first game since missing four with a virus, made some big saves, but the better goaltender tonight was Scott Clemmensen. He was peppered all night and came up big on all but one shot – a Pavel Datsyuk rebound.
Pavel Datsyuk needed that goal. He was visibly relieved when he finally smashed his own rebound deep into the net. Almost two whole periods of scoreless hockey had gone by, but Detroit took the first lead of the game into the dressing room. Darren Helm played like a man possessed, using his speed to create multiple scoring chances – including two breakaways. He couldn’t convert on any of his chances, but he was easily the most noticeable player on either team, playing sound defense and create more offense than we’ve seen from the third line lately. He led either team – far and away – in shots on goal, with 8. And he did it in just over 12 minutes of ice time.
In at 8:13 mark of the third period, Stephen Weiss, who played his junior hockey in Plymouth, tied it up at 1. The Panthers seemed content to play for overtime, using a trap-like system throughout most of the sixty regulation minutes. This was the fourth time in five games that Florida went to extra time. It was Florida captain Bryan McCabe that ended the game, with a snapshot from the point.
In good news, Henrik Zetterberg continued his hot streak, with an assist on the Pasha goal.
