Saturday, Mar. 01, 2008

Sharks take advantage of a gift

DETROIT -- San Jose Sharks rookie Devin Setoguchi scored midway through the third period Friday after the puck went off the net over the glass. The goal proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 win over the slumping Red Wings.

"We might've gotten lucky on the third goal," San Jose coach Ron Wilson acknowledged.

Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek agreed.

"Definitely, it was a mistake," Hasek said. "The officials should've blown the whistle, but no one of the four saw the puck."

No one, in almost two decades, has seen the NHL-leading Red Wings struggle like they have recently.

Detroit has won only one of its last 11 games, slashing into its massive lead in the standings. It's the worst stretch for the Red Wings since a 12-game winless streak from Oct. 21-Nov. 16, 1989.

"I don't want to say there is panic in the room, but you can see disappointment on our faces," Hasek said. "But we still believe we can play the way we did before.

"Of course, we have had injuries, but we don't want to make excuses."

Hasek also didn't want to blame rust for his lackluster performance, playing for the first time in nearly three weeks after being sidelined with a hip injury.

Joe Pavelski scored on the first shot of the game, Setoguchi had a goal 52 seconds into the second period and added the winner in the third.

Henrik Zetterberg had his 36th goal and Mikael Samuelsson scored to pull the Red Wings within a goal with 7-plus minutes left, but they couldn't tie the game.

Evgeni Nabokov made 20 saves, helping San Jose win a fourth straight game on its eight-game road trip.

"When you hold a team like Detroit to only 22 shots on goal, you've done a helluva job," Wilson said.

DUCKS 3, FLAMES 1, at Anaheim -- Defensemen Mathieu Schneider and Scott Niedermayer each had a goal and an assist, Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 22 saves and Anaheim beat Calgary for its fifth straight victory.

CAPITALS 4, DEVILS 0, at Newark, N.J. -- Cristobal Huet stopped 18 shots in his first start for Washington and fellow newcomer Sergei Fedorov made a sensational no-look pass to help break a scoreless tie.

CANADIENS 6, SABRES 2, at Buffalo -- Tomas Plekanec had three power-play goals for his first hat trick in sparking Montreal.

LIGHTNING 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2 (OT), at Tampa, Fla. -- Dan Boyle scored a power-play goal with 2:58 left in overtime and Tampa Bay beat Toronto.

BLUE JACKETS 3, CANUCKS 2 (OT), at Vancouver, British Columbia -- Jason Chimera scored in overtime and Columbus rallied from a two-goal third period deficit to beat Vancouver.

Andrew Murray and Rick Nash scored 70 seconds apart early in the third period to tie the game at 2. Vancouver was 23-0-0 when leading after two periods, but Chimera ended that streak when he drove hard to the net to deflect Nikolai Zherdev's centering pass over the outstretched pad of Roberto Luongo.

WILD 3, PANTHERS 2, at Sunrise, Fla. -- Mikko Koivu, Stephane Veilleux and Brent Burns scored and Minnesota beat Florida for the sixth straight time.