Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Brandon Yip scored the only goal of the shootout to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
No Yips For Avalanche Against Red Wings, Colorado Wins In Shootout, 5-4
It took six shootout rounds before Yip finally won it for Colorado, which improved to 2-1-0 on the young season. David Jones scored twice, while Ryan O'Reilly and Daniel Winnick also tallied in the victory. This was the second of a five-game road trip for the Avs, who will face the three New York metro area teams before heading home to meet San Jose on October 21.
Peter Budaj made 24 saves in the winning effort.
Johan Franzen scored two goals for the Red Wings, who opened the season with two straight home wins and now have earned at least one point in each of their first three games. Pavel Datsyuk and Patrick Eaves also scored for Detroit.
Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard finished with 34 saves.
Earlier Tuesday, one day after Detroit head coach Mike Babcock was given a four-year contract extension, longtime Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby retired following a 16-year career. A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, Maltby was a key cog on Detroit's famed "grind line" who totaled 128 goals and 260 points in 1,072 regular season games for the Wings and Edmonton Oilers.
Neither side scored in overtime, so the ice surface was cut and the teams readied for the shootout. The goaltenders ruled through the first five rounds, as not one goal was scored. In the sixth round, Henrik Zetterberg was denied by Budaj and Yip ended it with a high wrister from in close.
This rivalry was brutally fierce when both teams were perennial Cup contenders for a 10-year period starting in the mid-1990s, but has since somewhat cooled due to Colorado’s rebuilding period over the last few seasons.
After Franzen’s second goal of the season opened the scoring 2:34 into the game, the Avs tied it up with 3:04 to play in the first period.
John-Michael Liles held control along the left side below the blue line and sent a pass to Jones inside the near circle. Jones released a backhand shot through traffic and Howard made the save. The rebound, though, kicked back to Jones, who slid the disc into the back of the net from the left side of the crease.
Detroit moved ahead, 2-1, less than three minutes into the second stanza. Staking on the power play due to a holding minor called on Yip, the Wings set up in their offensive zone and Zetterberg held control along the outer rim of the right circle. Zetterberg wound up as if to shoot, but instead sent a quick snap pass into the low slot where Datsyuk redirected the puck into the back of the cage at the 2:50 mark.
After several quality scoring chances by Colorado, the Wings gained a two-goal edge courtesy of Franzen's blazing snap shot with 6:58 to play before the second intermission. Valtteri Filppula hustled down the left-wing side and sent a perfect saucer pass across the slot, and the disc hit Franzen in stride. From the lower right circle, Franzen beat Budaj.
With 48.9 seconds to go in the second, O’Reilly’s laser slap shot brought the visitors within one. O’Reilly’s active defensive stick led to his pokecheck, which squirted the puck free into the neutral zone. Jones pushed the disc ahead to O’Reilly, who sped down the left side and lit the lamp from the top of the circle.
Colorado knotted the score at 3-3 in the early stages of the third period. Winnik gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and used the half-wall to chip the puck and move around Detroit's Doug Janik. From the lower right circle, Winnik's wrister beat Howard to the short side at the 4:43 mark.
Eaves' short-handed tally with 12:08 to play in regulation put the Wings ahead. A turnover at the blue line by Liles led to a 2-on-1 break the other way. Darren Helm skated down the left side, and his pass across the slot eluded Avs blueliner Kyle Quincey before Eaves lifted a wrist shot into the back of the net.
However, the back-and-forth battle continued several minutes later, at 11;24, when Jones’ turnaround backhander from the slot surprised Howard and again created a tie score.
The Red Wings announced that Maltby will remain with the organization as a professional scout...Colorado has won four of the last five meetings in Detroit...This was Jones’ third career multi-goal game...Colorado failed on all four its power-play chances, while the Wings cashed in on their only opportunity with the extra skater...Helm has five points in six career games against the Avs.
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