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Hossa leads Red Wings to comeback win over Blackhawks

Oct 26, 2008 - 6:44 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Marian Hossa scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout Saturday as the Detroit Red Wings rallied for a 6-5 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Defenseman Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler scored less than 7 1/2 minutes apart in the third period to erase a 4-2 deficit and Hossa added a power-play goal for Detroit, which has won four in a row.

"We played last night and they didn't, so we knew we wouldn't have as much gas as them," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "So we had to challenge our guys to compete in the third, and they did."

"It was a great game for the players with all the offense," Hossa added. "We didn't play well early, but it was good to come back and win in the end."

Johan Franzen converted during the man advantage in the first period for the Red Wings before leaving the game in the second with a knee injury.

"We hope to know more on Monday," Babcock said of the injury.

Patrick Kane earned Chicago a point with a power-play goal with 7:27 to go in the third, forging a 5-5 tie.

Following a scoreless overtime, Datsyuk gave Detroit the edge in the first round of the shootout, deking goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and lifting in the puck after Kane failed to get off a shot on his attempt. Kane is 0-for-3 in the bonus format this season after going 7-for-9 as a rookie in 2007-08.

"It's all mental, at some point, when things aren't going in," the reigning Calder Trophy winner said. "Maybe I can try some different moves."

Captain Jonathan Toews pulled the Blackhawks even with a hard wrist shot in the second round, and the bonus format remained tied until Hossa drilled a slap shot into the top right corner of the net.

"I saw three shooters before me and the goalie was playing everyone different, so I didn't know what to do," Hossa said. "I just figured, shoot the puck."

Franzen opened the scoring just 1:40 into the game, but Kris Versteeg answered with a power-play goal of his own with 3:26 remaining in the first. Defenseman Aaron Johnson put Chicago in front two minutes into the second before Hossa forged a 2-2 tie with a one-timer from the slot during a man advantage at 8:51.

Martin Havlat lifted a backhander under the crossbar from the left side of the net with 8:05 remaining in the period and Ben Eager tipped in defenseman Brent Sopel's blast from the right point less than three minutes later, giving the Blackhawks a 4-2 lead.

But Kronwall scored at 2:07 of the third and Datsyuk also netted his first of the season 68 seconds later to knot the contest. From below the right faceoff circle, Hossa made a pass in the slot to Datsyuk, who switched to his backhand and slid the puck around a sprawled Khabibulin.

"Pavel scored a great goal," Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "There was nothing Nik could do about it. There was a pass that I should have broken up, and I didn't. That led to the goal, but Pavel is dangerous when you give him open ice."

Later in the session, Mikael Samuelsson missed a wide-open net from the right side, sliding the puck across the crease. But it went right to Hudler, who buried it from near the left goalpost at 9:23 to give Detroit a 5-4 edge.

"I said we need more out of all four lines, and tonight it seemed like we got it," Babcock said.

"Detroit is a good team, and they are very explosive," Seabrook said. "This shows what they can do if you give them chances."

Chicago answered during a man advantage to salvage the point. After Patrick Sharp's slapper from the top of the slot was blocked, the puck found its way to Kane, who fired it into the net from the right side to knot the contest.

"We did some things well all game long, but we had some breakdowns in the third," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Nice to get one point against them, but we should have had two with that lead in the third period."