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Datsyuk caps comeback in OT as Red Wings edge Blues

Dec 8, 2006 - 3:43 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Pavel Datsyuk helped show the St. Louis Blues that a three-goal lead is never safe in the new NHL.

Datsyuk scored at 3:23 of overtime as the Detroit Red Wings overcame an early deficit to post a 4-3 victory over the struggling Blues, who have lost six straight.

With Manny Legace and Curtis Sanford both on injured reserve, Jason Bacashihua got the call in net for St. Louis, which opened a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead on a pair of first-period goals by Petr Cajanek and a shorthanded tally by Dallas Drake early in the second.

"I didn't think we'd done very much wrong," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We weren't fantastic, but they scored on their opportunities and we hadn't scored on ours."

"We got the three-goal lead and tried to hang on," Bacashihua said. "That's a good team over there, to come back fired up."

However, Detroit was not prepared to allow the former first-round pick to leave Joe Louis Arena with his first career shutout. Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom dashed Bacashihua's hopes with a power-play goal just over a minute later and Jason Williams halted an 18-game drought midway through the session to draw the Red Wings within one.

"We had a slow start," Williams said. "We wanted to get on top of them and get in on their D, and we didn't do that."

Daniel Cleary forged a tie 4 1/2 minutes into the third with his ninth goal, a power-play tally that tied Henrik Zetterberg for the team lead.

"With the momentum, they just get better and better," Drake said. "They took it to us the last half of the game. ... Once we gave them momentum, that's a tough team to stop."

With just over 1 1/2 minutes to go in overtime, Datsyuk led a 2-on-1 rush with Lidstrom and wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Bacashihua to the stick side, giving Detroit a sweep of the home-and-home series. The Red Wings recorded a 5-1 victory at St. Louis on Tuesday.

"I wanted to pass to Nick, but (the puck) started rolling," Datsyuk said. "So I changed my mind and I shot. I just closed my eyes and shot, and I heard the crowd."

"I've got to save that," Bacashihua said. "It's overtime, 2-on-1. It's a routine 2-on-1. You see 20 of those in practice. It's a good shot, but I'd like to have it back, especially (with) how the guys played."

Blues coach Mike Kitchen refused to blame his young netminder on the goal.

"You've got a 2-on-1, two great players coming down to him in Lidstrom and Datsyuk," Kitchen said. "(Bacashihua) had a real strong game, you can't fault him on that."

Robert Lang and defenseman Mathieu Schneider each had two assists for Detroit, which has won four of its last five games.

"It was a good win for us," Babcock said. "I felt we were just getting better as the game went on instead of panicking and losing our composure. We knew we were going to get an opportunity."

Bacashihua finished with 39 saves for the Blues, who are 3-13-4 in their last 20 meetings with the Red Wings.

Cajanek opened the scoring with 6:45 to go in the first period, receiving a pass from Martin Rucinsky - who was behind the net - and knocking in the puck from the right side of the net. The Czech completed his second two-goal game of the season and fifth career exactly five minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

Cajanek also scored twice at Detroit on November 24.

With Lee Stempniak in the penalty box for holding, Drake raced down the left wing on a partial breakaway and unleashed a slap shot from above the left circle that beat six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek 42 seconds into the middle session for a three-goal bulge.

"We worked a lot harder tonight," Kitchen said. "We should have worked like that Tuesday. I thought our work ethic was much better tonight. Our attention to detail was much better."

Lidstrom began Detroit's comeback with a one-timer from above the slot at 1:48 and Williams tallied with 9:11 to go in the period to make it a one-goal game. Cleary knotted things at 4:33 of the third, backhanding a rebound past Bacashihua while on the doorstep.