Red Wings Beat Coyotes to Wrap Road Trip

The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their four-game West Coast road trip Saturday night, earning a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Detroit got on the board just 4:37 into the game, seconds after the end of a power play. Dan Cleary got the puck down low and skated to the side of the Phoenix net before putting it out into the crease. A driving Niklas Kronwall couldn’t put it in but Jiri Hudler jumped up to bang the loose puck past goalie Mikael Tellqvist for his first of the season.

The Red Wings thought they had a two-goal lead at 9:13 but for the third time this season, an apparent Detroit goal was erased by a goaltender interference call on Tomas Holmstrom.

Still down by only one, the Coyotes were able to tie the game with 7:15 remaining in the period.

A rare giveaway by Pavel Datsyuk at the Detroit blue line put the Coyotes in on a four-on-one. Peter Mueller sent the puck from the right wing to Steve Reinprecht all alone in the slot to rifle a shot past Detroit netminder Dominik Hasek.

With 2:45 left in the period and just after the end of a Phoenix power play, Derek Morris put the Coyotes up by a goal on a blast from the high slot.

Kirk Maltby led the Red Wings’ comeback in the second.

With 8:34 left in the period, Maltby tipped a blast from the point by Chris Chelios through a Matt Ellis screen and into the Phoenix net to tie the game.

Hasek was on the bench for an extra attacker with a delayed penalty coming to Phoenix when Maltby put Detroit back out in front with only 26 seconds left. Maltby sent the puck down low to Henrik Zetterberg and moved into the right circle before getting it back and ripping a shot over Tellqvst’s shoulder.

Brett Lebda and Zetterberg would add third-period goals.

At 4:57 of the period, Lebda scored with Tellqvist stuck behind his own net. The Phoenix goalie had tried to play the puck to Ed Jovanovski but Ellis jumped up to take it away, sending it out front for Lebda to backhand into the open net.

Zetterberg scored his league-leading 17th point of the season with 5:23 left in the game. Datsyuk got the puck behind the net and drew in two defenders, leaving Holmstrom open to take a pass and send it across the crease to Zetterberg for an easy tap-in.

Neither team scored a power play goal on the night. Detroit had three tries with the extra attacker while Phoenix had six. The Red Wings did score on one delayed penalty.

Hasek finished the night with 19 saves on 21 shots. Tellqvist stopped 37 of the 42 Detroit shots he faced.

The Red Wings finished their road trip with a 3-1 record. They will be back in action at Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday when they host the Vancouver Canucks.

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Zetterberg’s two points extend his point-scoring streak to nine games, a career high… Mikael Samuelsson returned to the Red Wings’ lineup after missing three games with a groin injury… Detroit was without Dallas Drake, who suffered a facial injury on Thursday in San Jose.