First period not pleasant for Wings' Zetterberg

5/5/2010

DETROIT - Henrik Zetterberg had a first period to forget last night.

He had an early one-timer taken off the board after it was ruled he directed the pass from Valtteri Filppula into the net with his skate, followed by an unsuccessful penalty shot minutes later.

About the only thing that salvaged the first stanza of play in Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks for the Detroit Red Wings forward was an assist on Dan Cleary's goal that gave his team a 2-0 lead at the 18:37 mark.

The second period proved to be a much different story for Zetterberg, however, when fortune turned his way.

Zetterberg corralled a loose puck in the corner and fired a shot on goal that deflected off Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray past goalie Evgeni Nabokov, giving the Wings a 3-1 lead just 1:42 into the period.

He finished the night plus-2.

PAVELSKI STREAK: Sharks forward Joe Pavelski continued his hot start to this year's playoffs.

Coming into last night's contest, Pavelski had totaled nine goals and four assists in eight postseason games. He added to that point total in the first period, picking up a helper on Devin Setoguchi's goal with 1.8 seconds remaining.

PENALTY DISPARITY: For the second straight game, Detroit was the more penalized team - a disparity that drew the ire of the fans at Joe Louis Arena last night.

The game officials were heartily booed before the start of the third period and overtime.

The Sharks were penalized just twice all game - one in the first period and once in the third - while Detroit was penalized six times, including three times in the second period.

Neither team converted on its power-play chances, however.

"The bottom line is we took the penalties," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We weren't in the box quite as much, but we weren't good enough. We have to get better."

BABCOCK MILESTONE: Babcock coached the 100th postseason game of his career last night - 78 with the Red Wings and 22 with his former team, the Anaheim Ducks.

Since 2003, his first year in the NHL, Babcock has coached more postseason games and has more postseason wins (62) than any other coach. He also ranks second in playoff winning percentage (.626) behind Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma (.656).