Zetterberg returns, helps Wings win

12/29/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SUNRISE, Fla. — Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal in his first game back from injury to lift the Detroit Red Wings over the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Saturday night.

Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith, and Daniel Alfredsson also scored for Detroit.

Jonas Gustavsson stopped 30 shots. Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.

Zetterberg returned after missing 11 games with a herniated disk in his back.

Zetterberg leads the Red Wings with 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists).

Sean Bergenheim scored two goals and Nick Bjugstad also scored for Florida. Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves for the Panthers.

The Red Wings have won three of four and beat the Panthers for the first time in three games this season.

The Panthers lost their third straight game.

With the game tied at 2, the Red Wings scored twice in the first 1:20 of the third.

Smith one-timed a shot from the right circle that went over Clemmensen's head to give Detroit a 3-2 lead at 42 seconds of the period.

Nyquist poked in a rebound 38 seconds later that stretched the lead to 4-2.

Bergenheim's second goal of the game made it 4-3. His shot from the high slot went five-hole on Gustavsson at 4:27.

Trailing 2-0, the Panthers scored twice in just over two minutes in the second period to tie the game.

Florida closed to 2-1 on Bergenheim's power-play goal at 12:52. Bergenheim took a pass from Brian Campbell in front of the crease and backhanded it past Gustavsson.

Bjugstad tied the game on a breakaway, bringing the puck to the crease and slipping it past Gustavsson's pad at 14:59 to make it 2-all.

The Red Wings scored two power-play goals in the first period. The Red Wings scored on their first shot of the game. Alfredsson ripped a shot from the right circle 12 seconds into the power play to beat Clemmensen at 3:47 for a 1-0 lead. Alfredsson has five points in his past four games.

Zetterberg made it 2-0 when he took a cross-ice pass from Datsyuk at the dot in the right circle and wristed it over Clemmensen's glove and into the net at 14:29.