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Third-period surge lifts Red Wings past Lightning

Nov 14, 2008 - 4:57 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson scored 52 seconds apart in the third period as the Detroit Red Wings tallied three times in the session to post a 4-3 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Zetterberg and Samuelsson recorded a goal and an assist apiece for Detroit, which rebounded from a 7-6 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday to improve to 3-0-1 in its last four games.

Marian Hossa had two assists for the second consecutive game and Chris Osgood made 15 saves for the Red Wings.

"I think Ozzie would thank his teammates tonight," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Ozzie bails us out some nights, and we bailed him out tonight."

Veteran Mark Recchi, Jussi Jokinen and Matt Pettinger scored and Olaf Kolzig turned aside 35 shots for Tampa Bay, which lost its first contest after posting a 1-3-1 record on its five-game road trip.

"I thought the first period was excellent," Tampa Bay coach Barry Melrose said. "And then you come out for about four minutes in the second period, we go brain dead.

"We take three terrible penalties. You can't give the best team in the world a two-minute 5-on-3 and another two-minute 5-on-4. Detroit doesn't do that. Detroit doesn't beat themselves. Tonight, we beat ourselves."

With his team trailing, 2-1, but pressuring during a 5-on-3 power play, Zetterberg leveled the contest by jamming a loose puck past Kolzig just 98 seconds into the third for his 10th goal of the season.

"We know we have good players on (the power play), and we had a good start this year," Zetterberg said. "It gives us confidence to go in and do what we want and make the right plays. When you score goals, the confidence keeps growing."

Less than a minute later, Samuelsson wristed a shot from the right faceoff circle past a screened Kolzig to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead.

"With 5-on-5, we were OK," Recchi said. "Obviously, their power play is over 30 percent, I think, on the year. If you give them a full two minutes of 5-on-3, they're going to find ways to score goals, and that's what happened. It changed the momentum of the game, and just careless penalties on our part hurt us."

A turnover by Tampa Bay in its own zone led to Detroit doubling its advantage nearly seven minutes later, as Zetterberg alertly fed Franzen on the doorstep for his seventh goal and 10th point in 10 games this season.

Pettinger halved the deficit with 4:18 remaining, when the puck caromed off his left skate and into the net. Officials deemed there was no distinct kicking motion, allowing the goal to stand.

Tampa Bay, however, could not net the equalizer.

Recchi opened the scoring with 5:51 remaining in the first period, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 and wristing a shot from the right circle past Osgood. The 40-year-old Recchi has notched a point in seven of his last nine games.

With his team on the power play, Jokinen doubled the advantage just over four minutes later, when he received a cross-slot pass from defenseman Andrej Meszaros and blasted a shot by Osgood. It was Jokinen's sixth goal of the season - and first at home.

Despite the deficit, the Red Wings remained focused.

"There was still 40 minutes to play," Samuelsson said. "We came in here and said to ourselves, 'Let's have a good push and see what we can do about it.'"

Datsyuk drew Detroit within one just 93 seconds into the middle period, deflecting a point shot from defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom past a screened Kolzig for his fifth goal. The Russian continued his success against Tampa Bay with the tally, which was his seventh point in four contests vs. the Lightning.

The Red Wings outshot the Lightning, 18-3, in the second period but still trailed after 40 minutes.

"We played well, but we got outshot pretty bad. It's frustrating," Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis said. "We're chasing a lot, but I thought we battled all the way through regardless. We got caught with some penalties, and it's a pretty good team to give a 5-on-3 for an extended period of time."