Sharks Beat Red Wings In OT, Take 3-0 Lead
DETROIT (CBS / AP) -- Devin Setoguchi scored 9:21 into overtime to finish a hat trick, and the San Jose Sharks took a commanding 3-0 lead over the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference semifinals with a 4-3 win Wednesday night.
The Sharks will have a chance to sweep the series in Game 4 on Friday night in Detroit.
Photo Gallery: Sharks 2011 Playoff Run
San Jose's Dan Boyle scored the tying goal with 4:08 left in regulation, setting up the Sharks' second overtime win of the series.
Pavel Datsyuk scored a go-ahead goal late in the second period, but Detroit couldn't hold on.
The Red Wings also didn't capitalize when Setoguchi went to the penalty box at 5:14 of overtime for holding, failing to score a third power-play goal.
San Jose made them pay for it with Joe Thornton getting the puck to Setoguchi at the top of the right circle for a wrist shot that went across goalie Jimmy Howard and into the net.
Antti Niemi stopped 38 shots for the Sharks. Howard made 34 saves.
Setoguchi scored first, a power-play goal midway through the first period, and made it 2-all late in the second with another man-advantage goal.
Nicklas Lidstrom scored off of Henrik Zetterberg's no-look, between-the-legs pass with 22 seconds left in the first period to get the Red Wings even.
Patrick Eaves put Detroit ahead 2-1, but Setoguchi tied it 50 later in the second period.
Both goalies made big saves to keep the third period scoreless until Howard went low and Boyle shot high from the right circle to make it 3-3.
The high-pace, hard-hitting game with shots trickling to the side of the posts at both ends of the rink fired up the sold-out crowd in the first period.
The towel-twirling fans roared when Detroit's Niklas Kronwall put Dany Heatley on his back with a hard, clean check. The Sharks got even where it mattered.
Setoguchi got to a loose puck in front of the net and shot it past Howard with 7:03 left in the first to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Lidstrom didn't waste Zetterberg's highlight-worthy pass, slapping a shot that went in and out of the net in the final minute of the first. The power-play goal was the 29th of Lidstrom's career in the playoffs, breaking Denis Potvin's mark for a defenseman and matching Mario Lemieux's fifth-place total in NHL history. He had an assist on Datsyuk's goal for the 128th of his postseason career, equaling Doug Gilmour for fifth place on the NHL list.
Eaves scored Detroit's first go-ahead goal, getting a backhander past a sprawling Niemi with 6:01 left in the second period. Setoguchi tied it less than a minute later.
Late in the second period, Detroit took advantage of Setoguchi's holding penalty.
Lidstrom carried the puck up the ice and got it to Zetterberg, who pulled up and feathered a pass that directly set up a second power-play goal.
NOTES: San Jose won the first three games of last year's second-round series—including Game 3 by 4-3 in OT—against the Red Wings and eliminated Detroit in Game 5. ... Heatley was slow to get up after Kronwall's hit and went to the dressing room, but returned to play late in the period. ... Faces in the crowd included musicians Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock, who were sitting together, along with NHLPA chief Donald Fehr, the longtime head of baseball's union, with former player Mathieu Schneider. ... Several octopi were thrown on the ice during the national anthem. ... The Red Wings put four-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Draper in the lineup, making Drew Miller a healthy scratch.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)
