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Red Wings return home to snap losing skid vs. Avalanche

Jan 29, 2007 - 12:49 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- A return to Joe Louis Arena for a date with the Colorado Avalanche was just what the Detroit Red Wings needed.

Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby each scored in the final six minutes as the Red Wings snapped a three-game losing streak and continued their dominance against the Avalanche with a 3-1 victory.

Detroit dominated the action, holding a 41-12 advantage in shots, as it returned from a three-game road trip where it scored just three goals. However, this victory was the Red Wings' eighth straight at home as they improved to 18-3-3 here this season.

"I thought we played real patiently. We were just waiting on opportunities to score and finally got some chances and capitalized on them," Detroit captain Niklas Lidstrom said. "We haven't been scoring a whole lot of late. I thought we played really well defensively and not gambling too much to get scoring chances. I think that was a step in the right direction for us."

Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk's 14th goal of the season 9:44 into the second period was the lone score until the final six minutes of the contest.

Detroit doubled the advantage with 5:58 left in the game after Holmstrom tipped a controversial rebound past goaltender Jose Theodore after a slap shot from just beyond the left faceoff circle by Lidstrom.

"It happened so fast," Holmstrom said. "It was a close call, but glad it was on my side."

Holmstrom appeared to raise his stick above the crossbar, which would have negated the goal, but the review upheld the tally.

"The way the rule works is if it's called a goal on the ice, it's not definite when they go upstairs, it's got to count," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Our video goal judge guy said he couldn't tell if it went off Homer's stick or off their stick. Anytime you can't tell, it's whatever it was on the ice."

"I didn't see a replay but I thought it was a high-stick call," Theodore said. "It was right there. They're a good team, they play good at home. We were right in there for 60 minutes. We could have maybe got a lucky bounce and then you go into overtime. I thought the guys played hard."

That goal turned out to be critical as the Avalanche scored 35 seconds later. Paul Stastny took a cross-ice feed from Wojtek Wolski and beat goaltender Dominik Hasek glove-side for his 14th tally of the season.

But Detroit iced it with 66 seconds remaining when Maltby redirected a slap shot from the right blue line by Chris Chelios with his backhand past Theodore, who was making his first start since December 27.

"In the West it's so tight we need to get back on the winning side," Babcock said. "We're playing a lot of road games now and we've got to play better on the road than we've played. You can't just win at home; you've got to win on the road."

Hasek turned aside 11 shots to improve to 26-8-3 for Detroit.

"We won the game, that's the most important," Hasek said. "I think we had lots of good chances. Their goalie, he kept them in the game. He made some spectacular saves.

"For me, it was an afternoon game, it was a little bit weird. Usually, I like to practice in the morning, go home, have lunch, have a nap. Everything was different, everything you're not used to. Then if you don't get into the game, you almost feel cold. You have to skate on the crease, stretch to stay warm.

Theodore played well, stopping 38 saves.

"He gave us a chance to come back, stay in the game," Colorado captain Joe Sakic said. "He was outstanding. Unfortunately, it was too bad we didn't do anything to help him out."

The Avalanche are 1-7 in their last eight games against the Red Wings and fell to 6-3-2 during January.