Islanders Send Red Wings To 6th Straight Loss
By IRA PODELL/AP Sports Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Kevin Poulin stopped all three Detroit skaters in the shootout after coming on in relief, and the New York Islanders outlasted the reeling Red Wings in a 5-4 see-saw matchup Saturday night.
Neither team could hold the lead until Poulin finally shut the door in the tiebreaker, denying Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi. The Red Wings had tied the game 4-4 when Datsyuk scored his second of the night with 42.5 seconds left in regulation.
The Red Wings have lost six straight games and five in a row after regulation - the past three in shootouts.
Frans Nielsen scored the only shootout goal for the Islanders, who had dropped five of six.
Datsyuk, playing in his 800th NHL game, salvaged a point for the Red Wings when he forged the fourth tie of the game. The goal was scored after Detroit pulled goalie Jonas Gustavsson for an extra skater.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard had given the Islanders a 4-3 lead when he tipped Aaron Ness' shot from the left point past Gustavsson 4:43 into the third for his fifth goal.
The Islanders are 6-0-1 against Detroit in the past seven meetings and haven't been beaten by the Red Wings in regulation since November 2003.
New York outshot Detroit 15-4 in the third period and 6-1 in overtime.
John Tavares had a goal and assist to stretch his point and assist streaks to five games. Casey Cizikas and Brock Nelson both scored tying goals in the second period for the Islanders. Poulin made 19 saves in relief of starter Evgeni Nabokov, who left in the first period with a groin injury.
Darren Helm and Johan Franzen had the other goals for the Red Wings, who were beaten in a shootout for the second straight night. Gustavsson stopped 37 shots through overtime.
Both teams were held at bay throughout most of the second period, but then combined for three goals in a span of 1:20 in the final three minutes of the frame.
The Islanders got even 2-2 when the Red Wings poorly played a rush into their zone. Matt Martin carried the puck deep and fanned on a shot, but Colin McDonald got his stick on the puck and put it on Gustavsson. Cizikas got to that rebound and scored his second of the season and second in two games with 2:10 remaining.
But for the second time, Islanders fans barely had a chance to celebrate before the Red Wings responded.
Helm brought the puck into the New York zone and fed a pass to Franzen on the left wing. Franzen glided from the circle into the middle of the ice and snapped a drive past Poulin just 33 seconds later.
This time it was the Islanders turn to answer quickly, and they did it 20 seconds into Luke Glendening's tripping penalty. Nelson scored with a second poke with 49.5 seconds remaining.
Both teams recorded 11 shots in the second.
The Red Wings wiped out their early 1-0 deficit just nine seconds after they fell behind, and knocked out Nabokov in the process.
Helm won a faceoff against Tavares, right after the Islanders captain put New York in front at 4:03 with his ninth goal. The Red Wings controlled the puck in their zone until defenseman Jonathan Ericsson found Helm with a long lead pass that led to a breakaway.
Helm came in on Nabokov, made a move that caused the goalie to do a split, and scored his second of the season at 4:12 to tie it 1-1.
The 38-year-old Nabokov was playing for the first time in four games and the second in six. He was assisted by a trainer in the crease before getting up on his skates and gingerly skating while hunched over to the tunnel leading to the dressing room.
Nabokov came into Saturday with a 5-5-3 record and 3.24 goals-against average.
Datsyuk made it 2-1 with 1:42 left in the first period, scoring a power-play goal with Bertuzzi screening Poulin in front. The Toronto Maple Leafs are now the only team Datsyuk hasn't scored a goal against.
NOTES: The Red Wings recalled Glendening from Grand Rapids (AHL) to fill in for forward Daniel Alfredsson, who missed his second straight game because of a groin injury. Alfredsson was a late scratch Friday after he was injured during warmups. Detroit was one skater short in the shootout loss to Washington. ... The Islanders failed to score on a 4-minute power play that spanned the second and third periods after Franzen was called for high-sticking.
