Late Goals Lift Red Wings over Stars

Three goals on their final three shots helped lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars Wednesday night.

Dallas rookie netminder Mike Smith stopped the first 29 shots he faced on the night but it wasn’t enough to earn the win.

It took an incredible pass from Henrik Zetterberg to Pavel Datsyuk just to get Detroit on the board. With 8:46 remaining in the third, Zetterberg carried the puck behind the net and delayed until Smith moved from post to post before backhanding a pass between his legs out front to Datsyuk, who banged the puck into the open side of the net.

With 4:36 remaining, Zetterberg would get a goal of his own to put the Wings out front, drifting with the puck from the right circle into the slot and whipping a shot past Smith with Tomas Homlmstrom providing a screen.

Mathieu Schneider would add an empty net goal.

Making his first start since January 26, Detroit goalie Chris Osgood stopped 17 of 18 Dallas shots, with Mike Ribeiro picking up the lone goal against at 6:34 of the second.

With the Stars on a power play, Osgood came out of the net to cut down the angle on a Stephane Robidas shot. Jussi Jokinen defelcted the puck over to Ribeiro who had an open net to put the puck into.

The goal was the game’s only power play goal. Dallas had three tries with the extra attacker while Detroit had one.

Following Nashville’s 5-0 win over the San Jose Sharks, the win leaves the Red Wings one point behind the Predators in the standings. Detroit’s next chance to gain ground will be Saturday night in Phoenix, with Dominik Hasek expected to return to the lineup.