National Hockey League
Eriksson's OT goal caps Stars' rally
National Hockey League

Eriksson's OT goal caps Stars' rally

Published Dec. 19, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

The Dallas Stars edged closer to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference standings.

Loui Eriksson scored at 4:18 of overtime to give Dallas a 4-3 comeback victory over Detroit on Sunday in a game between the conference's two top teams.

Eriksson also had two assists, Brenden Morrow scored twice, Brad Richards added a goal and Andrew Raycroft stopped 28 shots to help Dallas pull within a point of conference-leading Detroit.

''We had a lot of reasons, a lot of excuses to pack it in ... But our guys hung in there,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said about his team, which won 2-1 in Columbus on Saturday night.

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''It was a hard-fought game. Especially playing back-to-back,'' said Morrow, who played in his 700th game.

Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen each had a goal and an assist and Patrick Eaves also scored for Detroit. Chris Osgood made 28 saves in an unsuccessful bid for his 400th career victory.

''For sure, (he would have liked to done it) especially at home. But I've always said I don't know when it's going to happen. You can't really plan it,'' Osgood said. ''Guys tried, but it didn't work out. Only thing I can do is move on but for sure it's disappointing. Only a few minutes left in the game and I was feeling real good. It's unfortunate.''

Eriksson scored on a wrist shot from the left circle for his 14th goal.

''I saw we were going to have a 3-on-1,'' Eriksson said. ''(Detroit's Niklas) Kronwall took the pass away so I knew I was going to shoot.''

Morrow tied it with 3:14 left in regulation with his 12th goal of the season. He beat Osgood with a backhander from the slot after a turnover by Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski deep in the Detroit zone.

''I saw a clear line to Bert (Todd Bertuzzi) and their player had his stick up in the air and I didn't see it,'' Rafalski said.

Jamie Benn intercepted the pass in the left circle and set up Morrow.

''Great play by Jamie Been to make that pass to Brenden Morrow,'' Crawford said.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock talked about that sequence.

''There were 3:15 left and we had the puck in our zone for a period of time. We had multiple opportunities to execute and get it out and we didn't,'' he said. ''You got to give them credit, they found away to bang it in the back of the net.''

Franzen gave Detroit a 3-2 lead with 17 seconds left in the second period with his 14th goal. His wrist shot from the high slot went under teammate Tomas Holmstrom's armpit and past Raycroft.

Dallas rallied to tie it at 2 in the first after Detroit took a 2-0 lead.

Datsyuk scored his 12th goal, on a power play 3:42 into the game, when his backhand shot from the bottom of the right circle deflected in off the butt of Raycroft's stick. Eaves made it 2-0 with 7:35 left off a rebound.

But Richards put Dallas on the board with his 15th goal, with 6:04 left in the first, when his slap shot from just inside the blue line appeared to be going wide but deflected past Osgood by the skate of Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart at the side of the net. Morrow's power-play goal with 2:03 remaining in the first tied it. Trevor Daley's shot from the point glanced off the shaft of Morrow's stick.

Notes: Detroit F Jiri Hudler was a healthy scratch. ... Dallas' Steve Ott and Detroit's Justin Abdekader fought midway through the second period. ... The Red Wings' last overtime win over the Stars was Oct. 31, 2001. Dallas is 5-0-5 in overtime and shootout games against Detroit since then. ... The Red Wings are 3-4-2 in their past nine games.

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