Red Wings 5 Flames 4 (OT)
DETROIT — Third-period rallies are becoming routine for the Detroit Red Wings.
Henrik Zetterberg tied it on a power play with 3.2 seconds left in regulation and goalie Jimmy Howard off for an extra attacker, and Nicklas Lidstrom scored at 1:38 of overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Detroit, which trailed 4-2 midway through the second period against the Flames, rallied to take a lead late in the third period Friday night in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild and scored four goals in the third period Wednesday night in a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues
“It felt good to come back. We’ve been behind a few games this year and found a way to turn it around,” Zetterberg said. “It’s nice when it happens.”
He had two goals, Lidstrom added two assists and Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and two assists. Johan Franzen also scored for the Red Wings. Brian Rafalski had three assists and Howard made 23 saves.
“We had lots of players that did some good things. We were fortunate,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “You can’t play many nights like this and win.”
Jarome Iginla had two goals and an assist and Niklas Hagman and Alex Tanguay also scored for Calgary. Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 33 shots. Iginla has five goals and an assist in his last two games.
“We got a point but we certainly should have had two tonight,” Flames coach Brent Sutter said.
Lidstrom slid a backhand shot past a prone Kiprusoff after taking a pass from Darren Helm. It was Lidstrom’s third goal of the season.
“I know Kiprusoff is so good going side to side that I could have one-timed it on my forehand but I decided to hang on and put it on my backhand,” Lidstrom said.
“He still got a piece of it with his glove. I was happy to see that puck go in.”
In the final seconds of regulation, Zetterberg tipped in Datsyuk’s pass on a 2-on-1 for his seventh goal.
“I thought Pav made an unbelievable play,” Babcock said. “I think he got the puck with about 11 seconds left and he got inside the one guy and made a good backhand pass and obviously Z buried it.”
Detroit also literally got a fortunate break to set the play up because Calgary defenceman Cory Sarich broke his stick during the sequence.
Zetterberg made it 4-3 with 8:56 left. He cut across the slot and put a backhander past Kiprusoff.
Datsyuk’s power-play goal 2:28 into the second period closed the gap to 3-2. He tipped in Lidstrom’s shot from the point for his seventh goal.
Tanguay restored the Flames’ two-goal lead at 7:14 of the third with his sixth goal.
The Red Wings’ Todd Bertuzzi took a double minor 48 seconds later, getting interference and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. But Hagman was called for slashing 1:26 into the 4-minute power play.
“You’ve got a two-goal lead and a four-minute power play and take a slashing penalty 200 feet from our net,” Sutter said. “... The one that kills your momentum is the one during the 4-minute power play.”
Iginla scored twice in the first 4:09 of the second period to give Calgary a 3-1 lead.
Franzen’s power-play goal opened the scoring 1:56 into the game.
Hagman tied it at 5:21, with his sixth goal.
NOTES: Calgary C Olli Jokinen sat out the second game of a three-game suspension for cross-checking Phoenix’s Wojtek Wolski in the head-neck area Wednesday night . . . Red Wings RW Danny Cleary left the game late in the second period, after colliding with Calgary’s Craig Conroy and taking a hit from the Flames’ Mark Giordano. Cleary did not return. Babcock said the team would know more on Monday . . . Calgary’s Robin Regehr was helped off the ice with 6:51 left in regulation after he tried to check Mike Modano, but missed and went into the boards awkwardly. Sutter also said the team would know more on Monday.