Zetterberg propels Wings to win, closer to 24th straight postseason
Enough was enough, and it was written all over Henrik Zetterberg's face.
Mired in one of the worst slumps of his career at a time when his team so desperately needed him, the Red Wings' captain didn't mince words when he was peppered with questions about it after Tuesday's morning skate. Was he frustrated by it?
"Absolutely," he said. "This time of year I'm supposed to be there, supposed put up points for our team, and I haven't done that lately. Obviously it's something I'm not happy about. Hopefully, I can change that tonight."
And then he did. Putting his team on his back like he has so often, Zetterberg scored Detroit's opening goal on a power play early in the second period, and with a brilliant assist he set up the game-winner by Pavel Datsyuk to help the Wings complete a third-period comeback en route to a 3-2 victory over Carolina in their regular-season home finale.
But the Ottawa Senators spoiled what everyone hoped would be a clinching party when they rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime. An Ottawa loss in regulation would have clinched a playoff berth and sent the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 24th straight season.
Instead, the Wings still have some work left with games at Montreal on Thursday and at Carolina to close the season on Saturday.
With the win, Detroit (41-26-13, 97 points) reassumed its longstanding hold on third place in the Atlantic Division after breaking a tie with idle Boston. The Bruins (41-25-13, 95 points) are back in a wildcard position with Pittsburgh, but can reclaim third with a win Wednesday at Washington.
And so it goes in the final, frenetic week of the NHL's regular season.
"It's a fun time of year," said goaltender Jimmy Howard, who made 30 saves -- including a handful of critical stops late in the game to preserve the win. "This is when you learn what you're made of, if you're mentally tough enough."
For the record, there was no disappointment in the Detroit dressing room that Ottawa stayed in the race with its win in OT.
"Not really," coach Mike Babcock said. "The bottom line is we're in control of our situation. As I said before, we had to win two games to get in, so now we still have to win another game.
"I think it's important that our team has had to fight through some adversity. Adversity makes you better. Now we have to go into Montreal and find a way to win."
Gustav Nyquist scored the other goal, his 27th, which tied the game 2-2 early in the third period. Datsyuk's 25th goal, off a nice feed from Zetterberg who fought off a defender behind the Carolina goal, came at 11:25 of the third. Then Howard took over and shut down a swarming Carolina offense.
But this game was about Zetterberg and his will to end his slump and pull his team back from the precipice of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Not on his watch, he seemed to say with a nifty backhander off the roof of the net on a Detroit power play at 1:29 of the second period. It was his 17th goal of the season -- and just his second goal in the last 28 games.
"It's something new. I've never been through this before," said Zetterberg, adding that he turned to veteran teammates and his father for counsel. "There's games that I think I'm playing close to my standard, but too many games here lately I haven't."
To ease some of the pressure, Babcock juggled his forward lines and reunited his captain on the wing with Pavel Datsyuk, a dynamic tandem that can give opponents nightmares. With Darren Helm creating space with his speed, and havoc in front of Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin, Zetterberg and Datsyuk pretty much had their way with the Carolina defense.
"Sometimes you just need a little change, a little different feel," Zetterberg said. "It's no secret that we like to play together. But we haven't played together that much lately. Today it was good that when we got a chance we went out and did something."
The game was not without its challenges. After the Canes took a 2-1 lead late in the second period, tension seized the Detroit bench.
"We really tightened up," Babcock said. "It was like we couldn't move for awhile. We talked about, said 'Let's embrace the situation. Don't let it get the best of you.'"
Howard was more blunt about his team's predicament -- entering the third period of a must-win game behind by a goal.
"We don't have a choice," he said. "But we still control our own destiny. We've just got to go out there and get points. We found a way to do that tonight, and we showed a lot of character doing it. But we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Now Thursday's game becomes that much more important."
That Zetterberg had the game he did when the team needed him most heartened everyone, especially the coach, who took his captain aside before the game and had a little chat.
"We're all in this together," Babcock said. "One guy isn't carrying the weight of the world on his back. It makes no sense. Z is a good player. He's a proud guy and wants to play well. He's trying.
"Good for Z tonight. We're proud of him. He's got to be proud of himself. Now we've all got to get ready for the next game."
