In Detroit Wednesday, Red Wings’ Trevor Daley and the San Jose Sharks’ Kevin Labanc traded goals in the third period to force overtime leading to a shootout between the two clubs.
The skills competition took a seven-round effort to decide the game min Detroit’s favor, 2-1.
Justin Abdelkader potted the deciding goal in the seventh round for the win.
“We have a plan for every game for who we are going to use, based on their historical numbers in the last three years and their career, plus they do a lot of shootouts after practice. You never know what’s going to work,” Wings’ head coach Jeff Blashill said after the game.
Petr Mrazek, 30 saves, picked up the win after settling down in the shootout having surrendered goals on the first two shots.
“It didn’t feel good when they had two goals on their first two shots, but I have to thank our guys for scoring four goals for me,” Mrazek said. “That’s what got us the win.”
Detroit improved to 20-21-8 with the win.
[WATCH:Â All Sharks vs. Red Wings highlights]
Martin Jones took the loss on 43 saves.
“With [Joe Thornton] out, a lot of guys in this room are going to have to step up, and I’m one of them,” Jones said. “We can’t just stop playing because he’s hurt.”
The Sharks dropped to 26-16-8.
“[Jones] was the reason we had a chance to win that game,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said. “A point was probably a fair outcome for us.”
Thornton is out of the lineup with a knee injury.
“We’ve played three games without [Thornton] and we’ve lost all three and gotten one point. That has to stop now. He’s a great player but we’ve got to find a way to start winning hockey games without him,” San Jose’s Logan Couture said after the game.
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