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Relentless Red Wings come back to defeat Wild on Johan Franzen's overtime goal.
T. PAUL, Minn. -- The Detroit Red Wings dug themselves a hole with a couple of costly giveaways.
But rather than fold, the Red Wings were relentless. They dominated the game territorially, outshot Minnesota by a wide margin (41-14), and came back to defeat the Wild 3-2 Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center on Johan Franzen's power-play goal with 49 seconds remaining in overtime.
Detroit improved to 4-0, getting goals in regulation from from Ian White and Jiri Hudler.
Franzen's goal was the first on 19 power-play attempts this season for Detroit. During a scramble around the net, the puck went in off Franzen's skate. A video review determined he didn't deliberately kick it in.
Wild goaltender Josh Harding, playing his first game in more than 18 months, gave his team a chance to win and was under siege most of the night.
Harding's last appearance was a 6-2 loss in Detroit on March 26, 2010, a game in which he left early due to a hip/labrum injury. Harding then hurt his knee (torn ACL, MCL) in a preseason game in September 2010 and missed all of last season.
Trailing 2-0, the Red Wings got on the scoreboard with 48 seconds remaining in the second period on White's second goal in four games.
Valtteri Filppula won an offensive-zone faceoffs and Franzen got the puck to White, who fired in a shot from the slot while moving to his right.
A minute earlier, Pavel Datsyuk shot wide on a breakaway.
The Red Wings swarmed the Wild early in the third period and got the equalizer when Hudler went to the net and redirected a pass from the point from Jakub Kindl. Hudler, coming off a disastrous season, is off to a good start with two goals and two assists. He is the only Red Wings with a point in each game.
Both teams had great opportunities to break the tie in regulation. Devin Setoguchi, acquired in the off-season from San Jose, rattled a shot off the goal post with 10:50 to play. Harding robbed Henrik Zetterberg on a point-blank chance with 6:21 remaining.
Earlier in the game, the Wild stunned the Red Wings with goals in the waning seconds of the first period and shortly after the drop of the puck in the second period. Both were the result of turnovers by Datsyuk behind the net.
Minnesota had little going on offensively when Guillaume Latendresse stole the puck from Datsyuk and made a backhand pass to Greg Zanon at the point. Zanon beat Jimmy Howard with a shot through traffic with 11.3 seconds to play in the period.
It snapped Detroit's shutout streak at 141 minutes, 19 seconds. The Red Wings had recorded shutouts in their previous two games.
The Wild struck again 16 seconds into the second period when Colton Gillies forced a turnover from Datsyuk behind the net, leading to a goal by Cal Clutterbuck.
But the Red Wings remained resilient, battling their way back into the game.
The Red Wings have a five-day break before their next game, Friday at home against Columbus. It is their longest stretch without a game this season, excluding the all-star break.
T. PAUL, Minn. -- The Detroit Red Wings dug themselves a hole with a couple of costly giveaways.
But rather than fold, the Red Wings were relentless. They dominated the game territorially, outshot Minnesota by a wide margin (41-14), and came back to defeat the Wild 3-2 Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center on Johan Franzen's power-play goal with 49 seconds remaining in overtime.
Detroit improved to 4-0, getting goals in regulation from from Ian White and Jiri Hudler.
Franzen's goal was the first on 19 power-play attempts this season for Detroit. During a scramble around the net, the puck went in off Franzen's skate. A video review determined he didn't deliberately kick it in.
Wild goaltender Josh Harding, playing his first game in more than 18 months, gave his team a chance to win and was under siege most of the night.
Harding's last appearance was a 6-2 loss in Detroit on March 26, 2010, a game in which he left early due to a hip/labrum injury. Harding then hurt his knee (torn ACL, MCL) in a preseason game in September 2010 and missed all of last season.
Trailing 2-0, the Red Wings got on the scoreboard with 48 seconds remaining in the second period on White's second goal in four games.
Valtteri Filppula won an offensive-zone faceoffs and Franzen got the puck to White, who fired in a shot from the slot while moving to his right.
A minute earlier, Pavel Datsyuk shot wide on a breakaway.
The Red Wings swarmed the Wild early in the third period and got the equalizer when Hudler went to the net and redirected a pass from the point from Jakub Kindl. Hudler, coming off a disastrous season, is off to a good start with two goals and two assists. He is the only Red Wings with a point in each game.
Both teams had great opportunities to break the tie in regulation. Devin Setoguchi, acquired in the off-season from San Jose, rattled a shot off the goal post with 10:50 to play. Harding robbed Henrik Zetterberg on a point-blank chance with 6:21 remaining.
Earlier in the game, the Wild stunned the Red Wings with goals in the waning seconds of the first period and shortly after the drop of the puck in the second period. Both were the result of turnovers by Datsyuk behind the net.
Minnesota had little going on offensively when Guillaume Latendresse stole the puck from Datsyuk and made a backhand pass to Greg Zanon at the point. Zanon beat Jimmy Howard with a shot through traffic with 11.3 seconds to play in the period.
It snapped Detroit's shutout streak at 141 minutes, 19 seconds. The Red Wings had recorded shutouts in their previous two games.
The Wild struck again 16 seconds into the second period when Colton Gillies forced a turnover from Datsyuk behind the net, leading to a goal by Cal Clutterbuck.
But the Red Wings remained resilient, battling their way back into the game.
The Red Wings have a five-day break before their next game, Friday at home against Columbus. It is their longest stretch without a game this season, excluding the all-star break.
