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Red Wings edge Wild in SO to win fifth straight

Feb 20, 2011 - 11:19 PM St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi both scored in the shootout, as the Detroit Red Wings got by the Minnesota Wild, 2-1, at the Xcel Energy Center.

Deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of overtime, Datsyuk made a nice deke move and put a forehander past Niklas Backstrom to give Detroit the advantage. The next three shooters were unable to light the lamp and Bertuzzi, playing in his 1,000th career game, deliberately skated in and lifted a backhander over the outstretched Backstrom to seal the victory.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored in regulation for Detroit, which has won five straight for the first time since winning seven in a row from March 20-April 1 of last season.

"We need every point we can get," Bertuzzi said. "We have to keep staying on a roll and we're getting a lot of good efforts from everyone."

Jimmy Howard turned aside 25-of-26 shots to earn the victory.

Martin Havlat tallied for the Wild, who have dropped three of their last four. Backstrom made 38 saves in defeat.

"Pretty fast, pretty intense game," Minnesota head coach Todd Richards said. "Detroit is always impressive. I was impressed by the way we battled today. It was a great crowd. We earned a tough point today. Certainly it wasn't easy."

Scoreless after two periods of play, Lidstrom lit the lamp 1:10 into the third.

Jiri Hudler controlled the puck in the right circle and fed to Lidstrom, who one-timed the pass by Backstrom on the glove side.

However, Havlat pulled the Wild even at 4:50 when he beat Howard between the pads on a breakaway.

Game Notes

Minnesota center Mikko Koivu missed the game with a hand injury...Detroit improved to 20-8-2 on the road this season, while the Wild fell to 15-12-3 as the host...The Red Wings have won six of the last eight overall against Minnesota.