Wings persevere for rare shootout victory but lose Brad Stuart

Published Jan. 7, 2011 10:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

-- They won a game when they weren't at their best, but the mood in the Red Wings locker room didn't reflect it.

The Wings were livid after Friday's 5-4 shootout victory over Calgary.

The source of the anger was a blindside hit by Calgary's Tom Kostopoulos at 10:07 of the third period on Brad Stuart that broke Stuart's jaw.

The Wings felt it was late, unnecessary and is worthy of a suspension.

Stuart, for his part, made the trip after the game to Vancouver. But whether Stuart needs surgery, and how long he'll be out of the lineup, remains to be seen.

"It's embarrassing," said coach Mike Babcock of Kostopoulous' hit. "It's unfortunate, it was bad. A blindside hit to the head. It's uncalled for and unneeded. It's disappointing."

Babcock had little doubt the league will take action.

"I'd assume they'd look into it and I'd assume he'd be suspended," Babcock said. "You're supposed to protect the good players in the league and he's a good player.

"I'd have no problem if the guy buries him. He's swinging at the puck but you don't have to hit him in the head. There's no reason for that. That's disappointing."

Flames coach Brent Sutter and Kostopoulous had no comment.

"I'm not commenting on it," Sutter said. "I haven't seen it."

The Wings were able to earn a victory in a shootout for the first time this season (1-1). They're only 24-30 all-time in the extra session, surprising considering the quality of offensive players they've had.

Todd Bertuzzi scored the lone goal in the shootout. Bertuzzi went in slowly on Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, and casually flipped a backhand past the beleaguered goalie.

Jimmy Howard stopped all three Calgary shooters.

"Howie stepped up and made big saves and it was great to see Bert make a move like that," Nicklas Lidstrom said. "He was going real slow but he obviously knew what he was doing."

The Wings survived a Calgary power play in overtime (Bertuzzi for slashing) with Howard, who struggled through two periods, making two big stops on Calgary's Jarome Iginla.

"I wanted to win," said Howard, who had lost two consecutive games. "I wasn't going to make it three, that's for sure. I was going to do what it took to win a game."

Brian Rafalski hadn't scored all season but got two goals Friday. His second, at 8:16 of the third period, tied the score at 4.

Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves (power play) also scored for the Wings (26-10-5, 57 points).

Curtis Glencross had two goals, and Jarome Iginla and Anton Babchuk (power play) scored for Calgary (18-20-4, 40 points).

"Obviously we're very short-staffed and we didn't have the puck like we normally have, but we hung in there," Babcock said. "We found a way to get a couple of points, which is important."

Jan. 8, 2011