Wings Hold on for Tie with Predators

Just minutes into the second period of Tuesday night’s game in Detroit, the Red Wings had a 5-2 lead over the Nashville Predators. By the final minutes of the third period, the Predators had tied the game and the Wings were on the way to their second-straight tie.

Detroit native David Legwand began Nashville’s comeback, scoring at the 11:54 mark of the second to pull the Predators within two.

Nashville cut Detroit’s lead to only one goal with 7:30 remaining in regulation. Kimmo Timonen rifled a shot over the right shoulder of Red Wings’ netminder Curtis Joseph while on a power play. Denis Arkhipov tied the game with 3:12 remaining.

The Red Wings had taken an early lead on goals by Henrik Zetterberg and Kris Draper in the game’s opening three minutes.

The teams traded goals for the rest of the period. Nashvile’s Mark Eaton scored, only to have the Wings’ leaded extended again by Brendan Shanahan. Timonen cut Detroit’s lead again but Luc Robitaille answered late in the period with his first goal in twenty-one games.

The Red Wings lead was extended to three goals on Pavel Datsyuk’s goal just 1:21 into the second.

“As bad as we played in the first period, you could tell they weren’t the Red Wings we usually see,” Eaton said. “Tonight, they were ripe for the taking.”

Timonen added, “Somehow, we got some extra energy in the second period. And in the third period we played even better.”

The Red Wings are taking the tie as a loss.

“It does feel like a loss,” said Robitaille. “When you’re up 5-2 and you want to be a top team, you can’t do that.”

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Brett Hull failed to score career goal number seven hundred for the fifth-straight game.