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DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings followed their new game plan perfectly.
Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the shootout to lift Detroit to a 2-1 win over San Jose, snapping the Sharks’ six-game winning streak.
Zetterberg also had a goal in regulation, and Chris Osgood made 33 saves for Detroit, which isn’t the high-scoring team it has been the past few years.
After the free-agent losses of Marian Hossa and Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler’s decision to play in Russia, the Red Wings knew they would have to play better defensively and grind out games more. But early season long-term injuries to talented forwards Johan Franzen (knee) and Valtteri Filppula (broken wrist) have made Detroit more of a defense-oriented team.
“We’re not going to win the same way we did before,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We don’t have the team to do that.”
Datsyuk and Zetterberg, both centers, were also big parts of the defensive effort. Zetterberg went head-to-head with Joe Thornton, and Datsyuk faced Patrick Marleau all night.
“He’s (Marleau) been their best player,” Babcock said. “That’s why I wanted Pav to play against him.”
Osgood also had his third good game in a row – a big reason for the Red Wings’ three-game winning streak – after a slow start.
“He gave us confidence to play well in front of him,” Zetterberg said.
Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal for San Jose. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 35 shots.
“We fought hard for the one point, and we got five out of six on the road,” Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. “We would have taken that before the road trip started.”
COYOTES 3, BLACKHAWKS 1: Peter Mueller scored his first goal of the season and Martin Hanzal added a goal and an assist to energize host Phoenix.
Kris Versteeg had a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks, who have lost two of three.
CANADIENS 2, BRUINS 1, SO: Patrice Bergeron’s goal with 52 seconds remaining in regulation helped host Boston avoid a historic third consecutive shutout, but Michael Cammalleri scored in the shootout to lift Montreal.
BLUE JACKETS 4, THRASHERS 3: Raffi Torres scored two uncontested second-period goals to hold off host Atlanta.
SENATORS 3, LIGHTNING 2, OT: Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal 4:17 into overtime to lift host Ottawa.
CANUCKS 5, WILD 2: Tough guy Darcy Hordichuk and newly signed Matt Pettinger each scored their first goals of the season, forming an unlikely pair to lead Vancouver in Minnesota.
FLAMES 2, BLUES 1, OT: Dion Phaneuf’s goal 2:50 into overtime gave Calgary the edge in St. Louis.
