Howard Stops 37 but Red Wings Fall to Flames in Overtime

Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced on Friday night but it wasn’t enough to keep the Red Wings from a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames.

The Red Wings have now lost four consecutive games after starting the season with three straight wins.

Detroit carried a 2-1 lead into the final minutes of the third period but with 1:12 left in regulation Joe Colborne tipped a Mark Giordano shot from the high slot past Howard for a 2-2 tie.

In overtime it was Giordano playing the hero for Calgary, taking a feed from Johnny Gaudreau in the right faceoff circle and drawing Howard to him, then stepping around him to shovel the puck into the open net with 1:48 left in the extra period – his second goal of the game.

The Red Wings’ Gustav Nyquist had opened the game’s scoring at 7:38 of the first period. On a Detroit power play, Nyquist snapped a shot from the inside edge of the right circle past Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller off a feed from Henrik Zetterberg.

Giordano’s first of the night tied things up with 8:58 left to go in the opening frame. From nearly the same spot as hit shot on the tying goal, Giordano snapped the puck through a screen and past Howard to make it 1-1.

Brendan Smith – back in the Detroit lineup after a blue line shakeup – scored his first of the season to restore the Wings’ lead just 1:38 later. On another power play, Smith threw a shot from the high slot through traffic and past Hiller to make it 2-1.

Hiller finished the night with 27 saves on 29 shots.

Both Detroit goals came with the man-advantage. They had four power play tries on the night. Calgary went scoreless on the power play.

The Red Wings conclude their Western Canadian road trip on Saturday in Vancouver.

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Detroit defenseman Mike Green left the game early due to injury. Kyle Quincey and Niklas Kronwall also missed time during the game nursing injuries.