Wings Fall to ‘Hawks in OT

Chicago’s Mark Bell slid a slow shot past Detroit goaltender Curtis Joseph just 15 seconds into overtime Thursday night to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 win over the Red Wings.

Bell broke in on Joseph, fighting off a check from Jason Woolley. As Joseph moved to poke check the puck away, Bell slid it past the Detroit netminder and into the net. Bell had picked up the puck at the Detroit blue line on a pass from Scott Nichol, who had carried the puck to center ice after Steve Poapst stuck his leg out and tripped up Pavel Datsyuk in the Chicago zone to steal the puck.

Chicago took an early lead in the game on almost identical goals by Tyler Arnason and Igor Radulov. At the 3:47 mark of the first period, Arnason deflected a Brett McLean pass over Joseph’s shoulder from just outside the crease. With four minutes remaining in the period, Radulov did the same with a pass from Igor Korolev.

Detroit pulled to within one on a goal from Kris Draper in the second period. With 4:03 left in the second, Draper wrapped around the Chicago net and threw a shot into the crease. The shot hit Blackhawks’ netminder Michael Leighton and deflected into the net.

At 4:51 of the third period, Detroit tied the game at two. Pavel Datsyuk fought off Poapst to put a shot on Leighton. He then picked up his own rebound a slid a shot to the side of the Chicago goalie for his 15th goal of the season.

Chicago regained the lead when Tuomo Ruutu sent a screened wrist shot through Joseph’s five-hole with only 6:31 remaining in regulation.

With the Red Wings’ net empty, Brendan Shanahan sent a one-timer past Leighton’s stick to tie the game with 1:08 remaining and force overtime.

Detroit was held scoreless on three powerplay opportunities and did not allow a goal any of the five times Chicago had an extra skater. Joseph ended the game with 22 saves on 26 shots in net for the Red Wings while Leighton stopped 30 of 33 shots between the pipes for the Blackhawks.

Detroit will next be in action on Saturday night when they visit the Washington Capitals.