Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Timely scoring pushes Detroit past Calgary, Red Wings beat Flames 5-4 in OT

redwingsstealone

James O’Brien

Detroit 5, Calgary 4 (OT)

It might be a bit of a cliche, but it seems at least partially true: good teams find ways to win games while bad teams often “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

The Flames held a 4-2 lead midway through the third period, only to let the game slip through their fingers. Henrik Zetterberg scored the next two goals, including one on the power play while Detroit’s net was empty with just 3.4 seconds left in the game. After that, Nicklas Lidstrom scored the overtime game-winner to help the Red Wings steal one at home.

Pavel Datsyuk (one goal, two assists) and Brian Rafalski (three assists) also stepped up for Detroit, as the team’s power play made a big impact (three goals on seven opportunities).

The Flames might kick themselves for letting this one go, but that doesn’t mean that their team lacked solid performances in their own right. Jarome Iginla continued the momentum he began with a hat trick against Chicago by scoring two goals and adding an assist. Miikka Kiprusoff also played well in this contest, stopping 33 out of 38 shots in a losing effort.

Detroit improved their home record to a staggering 9-1-2 while they also widened their division lead over the St. Louis Blues. Meanwhile, Calgary is showing signs of life, but the bottom line is that the only team that’s lower on the Western Conference totem pole is the lowly Edmonton Oilers.