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Datsyuk, Osgood help Red Wings to shootout win

Nov 8, 2007 - 4:59 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Pavel Datsyuk scored the decisive goal in the shootout and Chris Osgood remained perfect as the Detroit Red Wings posted a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.

Henrik Zetterberg tallied in the shootout and added an assist in regulation to set a club record with at least one point in 15 straight games to start a season for Detroit, which has won eight in a row. The previous mark was set in 1960-61 by Norm Ulman.

"When we're playing well, there's a lot of opportunities to put some points out there," Zetterberg said. "Playing on the power play, you should put some points up. Fifteen games in a row, that's always nice."

Datsyuk went first in the shootout and deked to his right before beating goaltender Chris Mason with a backhander to the left side. On Detroit's second attempt, Zetterberg used a great deke to the right that froze Mason and slipped in a backhander.

Osgood, who stopped 28 shots before the bonus format, made a great glove save on J.P. Dumont before Alexander Radulov fired a shot high and to the right of the net, clinching the win for the Red Wings.

"You're not going to win the exact way you want to every night," Osgood said. "It was tough tonight. We didn't play very well the second half of the game, but we had a two-goal lead. We would have liked to make it three. We didn't play good, but we managed to win the game, and that's what matters."

Osgood improved to 8-0-0 while serving as the backup to Dominik Hasek, who was activated from injured reserve before the game and is expected to return from a hip injury on Friday.

"Dom's played a lot of games. He's a great goalie," Osgood said. "Dom needs to play. He's been practicing since Monday, so he's ready now. He had to get some shots to get the rust off. He's ready. Dom will play against Columbus (on Friday) and then we'll go from there."

Meanwhile, Dumont helped Nashville rally from a 2-0 deficit as he scored the equalizer on a one-timer from the right side of the net with 84 seconds remaining in the third period.

"To be down 2-0 against the best team in the Western Conference and to come back to get a point, we'll take that," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "It was a well-earned point."

The Predators, who were outshot, 45-30, pulled within 2-1 at 12:28 of the third period as defenseman Ryan Suter fired a shot from the point that beat Osgood to the short side for his second goal of the season.

"We needed something," Suter said. "Once we scored, that gave us a little jump."

While Detroit coach Mike Babcock did not want to blame the Red Wings' six-day layoff for his team's late-game collapse, he said he was expecting it.

"I've been nervous for five days," Babcock said. "I knew this was coming. I was scared about it. Even though you need the rest and you need the time to regroup, you knew this was going to be a tough night for us. We had good goaltending, we scored a couple power-play goals and then we had some skill in the shootout."

Detroit outshot Nashville, 16-7, in the first period but could not break through until Daniel Cleary collected his own rebound in front of the net during a power play and put the puck past Mason at 8:40.

With a two-man advantage in the second session, Jiri Hudler scored his fourth goal of the season as he put back the rebound of Tomas Holmstrom's shot with 77 seconds to go for a 2-0 bulge. Mason, who entered just 3-7-0 with a 3.68 goals-against average, stopped 43 shots.

"For me, it was a huge measuring stick," Mason said. "They put everything on the net, and there's usually two guys going to the net afterward. You really have to be able to contain things."

The Predators, who had won five of six, were 0-for-5 on the power play.