SAN JOSE, Calif. – After the Sharks took a two goal lead early in the third period, Detroit fought back and totally dominated the third period to earn a dramatic 4-3 win. The series heads back to Detroit for game six. Jimmy Howard had another outstanding game, as he kept the Red Wings in the game, while San Jose dominated early in the game. San Jose outshot Detroit 38-21, but Howard managed to keep the Sharks out of the net enough to earn the victory.
Devin Setoguchi put the Sharks on the board first when he tipped a Dan Boyle shot through Jimmy Howard’s five-hole at 17:18 of the opening period. Joe Thornton won a face-off and the puck found its way to Boyle, who sent a high wrist shot towards the net that Setoguchi tipped as he cut in front of the net.
Joe Pavelski put the Sharks up 2-0 at 15:32 of the second period on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Ryan Clowe. Kyle Wellwood started the play with a defensive takeaway in the Detroit zone and then sent a pass up to Clowe. Clowe broke down the wing and fed a pass past Jonathan Ericsson to Pavelski, who shot the puck past Howard. With the home crowd in a frenzy, Detroit quickly took the energy out of the building when they scored just 53 seconds later to get Detroit right back in the game. Niklas Kronwall scored on a wrist shot, on a pass from Pavel Datsyuk. Brad Stuart earned his first point of the series with an assist on the goal.
Logan Couture again gave the Sharks a two goal lead when he scored just 54 seconds into the opening of the third period. Couture scored on a breakaway as Danny Heatley fed him a pass behind the Detroit defense. Just after San Jose killed off a penalty Ericsson got the Red Wings closer, as he scored on a wrist shot at 3:43 on assists from Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk to start the comeback. Detroit completed the comeback just 1:46 later when Dan Cleary tied the game, as he jammed a loose puck past Antti Niemi. Kronwall and Todd Bertuzzi assisted on the tying goal.
Detroit scored the game winner on a tremendous play started by Pavel Datsyuk at 13:52 of the period. Datsyuk fought off a Patrick Marleau check and fed a pass to Nicklas Lidstrom who shot the puck towards the net. Tomas Holmstrom tipped the puck past Niemi to give Detroit their first lead of the game. San Jose continued pressure on the Detroit net minder but could not get the puck past Howard.
The series now heads back to Detroit for game six at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday.
Contact the writer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
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