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Hemsky, Oilers end Red Wings' winning streak

Dec 14, 2007 - 5:15 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- All Ales Hemsky and the Edmonton Oilers needed to stop the red-hot Detroit Red Wings was another shootout.

Hemsky scored once in regulation and netted the decisive tally in the bonus format as the Oilers snapped the Red Wings' seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 shootout victory on Thursday night.

Defenseman Joni Pitkanen and Fernando Pisani also tallied for Edmonton, which improved to an NHL-best 9-1 in shootout contests this season.

It was the second straight win for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game skid with a 5-4 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

"I'm at a loss to explain it, really," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "When you've had that much success (in shootouts), you're pretty relaxed going into it. I think that helps the shooters knowing that.

"It all starts with one thing, and that's goaltending. When the goalies don't allow any goals, somebody's going to score with the lineup that we have."

After a scoreless first round in Thursday's bonus format, Hemsky fired a wrist shot past the stick side of goaltender Dominik Hasek, giving Edmonton the advantage.

"You never know what to expect from him," Hemsky said of Hasek. "He's a pretty smart goalie. I just came in and shot as hard as I could, and it hit the post and went in."

"Sammy (Gagner), Hammer (Hemsky) and Horc (Shawn Horcoff) has been very good at shootouts lately," Edmonton's Patrick Thoresen said. "They've been winning a lot of games for us."

Hasek and Hemsky both hail from Pardubice, Czech Republic.

"The kid is from the same town as me, and I know that he's a skilled player," Hasek said. "I didn't know what to expect from him (in the shootout)."

On Detroit's final attempt to extend the contest, Jiri Hudler was stopped by netminder Dwayne Roloson, securing the victory.

Late in a stagnant third period, Henrik Zetterberg scored a nifty goal to make it 3-3 with just 2:40 left. The Swede took a pass from along the boards by Daniel Cleary, circled around the back of the net and fired a wrist shot inside the right goalpost for his second of the night and 23rd of the season.

It was the first tally since late in the second by Pisani, who snapped a 2-2 tie with 4:27 left in the session.

After the puck was sent behind the net, rookie Gagner put it in front. Pisani slid it past Hasek on the short side, putting it just inside the left post for his second of the campaign.

Detroit had erased a 2-1 deficit on a power-play tally by Zetterberg, who redirected defenseman Brian Rafalski's pass from just inside the blue line into the net with 6:36 left in the second.

Mark Hartigan started the scoring for the Red Wings, taking a feed from Matt Ellis and burying a wrist shot between the pads of Roloson just 2:46 into the game.

Hemsky's slap shot over Hasek's left shoulder tied the contest at 12:28, and Pitkanen gave Edmonton a 2-1 edge with an unassisted goal with 2:54 left in the period.

Pitkanen corralled the puck on the fly during line changes by both teams, skated right in front of Hasek and flicked the puck over the six-time Vezina Trophy winner's right shoulder.

"We have a lot of guys who are good with the puck," Thoresen said. "We probably have five, six guys who can make the difference for us."

Rafalski recorded two assists for Detroit, which fell two short of its season-high nine-game winning streak that lasted from October 18-November 9.

"It's pretty apparent that we weren't as smooth as normal and we weren't as relentless and as on-the-puck as we normally are," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "You've got to give them credit, too. But in evaluating our own group, we just thought we could be better, and we found a way to hang in there, hang in there and get ourselves a point. In the end, we didn't win the shootout."