Lidstrom's goal wins for Wings

1/31/2008

DETROIT - Nicklas Lidstrom's goal with 7:28 left completed a comeback and lifted the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes last night.

It was NHL-leading Detroit's fifth straight win.

Lidstrom also had two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored the other goals. Pavel Datsyuk had three assists and Chris Osgood made 32 saves, including stopping Shane Doan on a breakaway with 30 seconds left.

Martin Hanzal and Ed Jovanovski scored for Phoenix and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 36 shots.

Lidstrom beat Bryzgalov, who was screened by Holmstrom, with a slap shot from the point in the middle of the ice with 7:28 left.

The Coyotes led 2-1 after two periods, but Holmstrom tied it 9:09 into the third period. Lidstrom's shot from the point deflected in off of Holmstrom's knee for his 20th goal.

Jovanovski gave the Coyotes the lead 8:31 into the second period, when he beat Osgood with a one-time slap shot from the left point for his seventh goal.

Zetterberg scored just 3:54 into the game after missing Detroit's last two games and the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday because of back spasms.

He missed the last 19 games of the regular season last season and five games in late December this season because of back problems.

Zetterberg's 29th goal came when his attempted pass from the left corner went in off of Bryzgalov.

Hanzal tied it for Phoenix at 9:57, when he beat Osgood from the slot for his sixth goal. It was the result of a giveaway by Red Wings' defenseman Niklas Kronwall beside his own net.

THRASHERS 4, PENGUINS 1

ATLANTA - The Thrashers snapped a five-game losing streak, but Atlanta's win over Pittsburgh might have been costly as leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk left the game with an apparent knee injury.

Kovalchuk scored his 38th goal, but was forced out of the game for good in the second period. He was injured in a knee-on-knee hit from Pittsburgh's Jarkko Ruutu and made a brief return later in the frame for one shift, but didn't return.

Ruutu received a major penalty for kneeing and was ejected.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 29 shots, losing his shutout bid when Ryan Whitney scored for Pittsburgh with 8:42 left.

Wild 5, Ducks 1

ST. PAUL - Brian Rolston, Marian Gaborik and Mikko Koivu scored less than two minutes apart in the second period, and Minnesota beat Anaheim.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard and James Sheppard also scored for Minnesota, which won its third in four games and sixth in nine.

Anaheim, which got another shaky performance from goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, lost its fourth straight after a six-game winning streak. The Ducks, whose lone goal came from Corey Perry, have scored five goals during the skid.

Rolston scored his fourth goal in four games 82 seconds into the middle period, Gaborik scored 38 seconds later for his first goal in six games, and Koivu made it 3-0 at 3:18.

Sabres 1, Panthers 0

SUNRISE, Fla. - Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal in the first minute of the second period and Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots in Buffalo's win over Florida.

It was the Sabres' second victory in two nights after they went into the All-Star break having lost 12 of 14.

Florida fell for the 11th time in 15 home games despite getting 40 saves from All-Star goalie Tomas Vokoun. The Panthers went 10 minutes, 13 seconds without a shot in a span of the first and second periods.

The shutout was Miller's second of the season. He beat Atlanta 6-0 on Oct. 11.