Third Period Flurry Leads Red Wings over Oilers

The Detroit Red Wings scored three goals in the final nine minutes of the third period Tuesday night, lifting them to a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Jonathan Ericsson got the Red Wings on the board with 8:45 left in regulation, tying the game at one on a quick shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off Steve Staios and past goalie Dwayne Roloson. It was his first goal of the season and the second of his career, both coming in Edmonton.

Marian Hossa put Detroit in front with 1:58 left, taking a pretty feed from Johan Franzen to snap a shot from the slot in behind Roloson.

Just 32 seconds later, Valtteri Filppula backhanded the rebound of a Nicklas Lidstrom chance into the Edmonton net, putting Detroit up by a pair.

The Oilers cut the lead down to one goal with a minute left in the game as Ales Kotalik threaded a slap shot through traffic to beat Detroit netminder Ty Conklin.

With Roloson on the bench for the extra attacker, neither team was able to score.

Edmonton had taken a lead late in the first period with a power play goal. Denis Grebeskov one-timed a chance from the high slot past Conklin’s glove to open the game’s scoring with 1:11 left in the opening period.

The Red Wings finished the night without a power play goal on four tries. The Oilers scored once on their four chances.

Conklin finished the night with 24 saves on 26 shots. Roloson stopped 41 of 44 Detroit attempts.

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The win puts the Red Wings into first place in the NHL, one point in front of the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have two games in hand… Tomas Holmstrom returned to the Red Wings lineup after missing three games with a knee injury… Conklin made his first start in five games… Chris Chelios moved into a tie for fourth place in all-time games played.