• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wolski propels Avalanche past Red Wings in shootout

Dec 28, 2008 - 6:33 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- Wojtek Wolski scored the lone goal of the shootout before Peter Budaj denied all shooters as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3, on Saturday.

Ryan Smyth and defensemen Ruslan Salei and John-Michael Liles netted power-play goals for the Avalanche, who squandered a three-goal lead before winning in the bonus format.

Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen each tallied in the second period for the Red Wings, who suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in over a month.

Wolski continued his dominance in the shootout, deking Red Wings goaltender Ty Conklin and tucking a forehanded attempt past his outstretched glove. The 22-year-old is 6-of-7 in the bonus format this season.

"We're lucky to get those three goals and lucky to get into overtime," Wolski said. "I just tried to make sure that I pitched in in the shootout and I'm happy that we won tonight."

Conklin, who finished with 29 saves, didn't anticipate Wolski's move.

"I was looking for him to go across the net and he didn't," Conklin said. "He made a good move on me. I bit on his fake."

Datsyuk nearly answered Wolski's goal in the first round of the shootout, but his wrist shot hit the goalpost.

Budaj, who made 41 saves in regulation and overtime, turned away Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler to secure the win for Colorado, which has three wins - all after regulation - in its last four games.

"It was a big win for us and I was happy that I made those saves," Budaj said. "We knew that they were going to come out hard (in the second period). That's what they did and we were able to hold on in the third."

The Avalanche capitalized on all three of their man advantages in the first period. Salei opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, unleashing a wrist shot past Conklin from the high slot.

Smyth and Liles extended the advantage to 3-0 before the end of the opening session, but the Red Wings answered with three goals in less than a four-minute span during the second.

"They're a good measuring stick for us," Smyth said. "We won the first (period), they won the second, and it was a battle in the third."

Holmstrom provided the screen on Datsyuk's power-play goal with 5:54 left and deflected in a man-advantage goal 92 seconds later to cut the deficit to 3-2. Franzen tied the contest with the only even-strength goal of the game with 1:57 remaining in the session.

"I thought we showed great resolve and found a way to dig ourselves back into the game," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Let's be honest, we should have won that game. We had so many opportunities in overtime and in the third period. It wasn't even close. You've got to give Budaj a lot of credit."