Zetterberg’s Hat Trick Leads Red Wings To 7-4 Victory In Game Two

For more information on this game, please visit our Red Wings site, Winging It In Motown, and our Coyotes site, Five For Howling.

Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Henrik Zetterberg netted his first playoff hat trick, including the game-winner with 6:06 to play, as Detroit evened its first-round series with Phoenix thanks to a 7-4 win in Game 2.

Valtteri Filppula had two goals and an assist, while Justin Abdelkader and Pavel Datsyuk each lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who dropped a 3-2 decision in Game 1 on Wednesday. Jimmy Howard stopped 27 shots to pick up his first playoff win.

“We got pucks in and we were able to play a little bit more physical,” Filppula said. “We got some turnovers and got some chances that way.”

Wojtek Wolski and Shane Doan each notched a goal and an assist, while Keith Yandle and Matthew Lombardi each had a goal for the Coyotes, who are hoping for their first playoff series victory since 1987 when the team was in Winnipeg. Ilya Bryzgalov was tagged for six goals on 38 shots.

“We did way too many mistakes today,” Bryzgalov said. “We tried to play Detroit’s (system), open hockey. They scored lots of goals. They had pretty good chances.”

The series shifts back to Detroit for Games 3 and 4, with Game 3 set to take place Sunday afternoon. Detroit went 25-10-6 at home this season, while Phoenix was 21-15-5 as the visitor.

With the score tied in the latter stages of the third, the Red Wings took a 5-4 lead as Todd Bertuzzi’s shot from the outside left circle was stopped by Bryzgalov, but he left the rebound at the right doorstep and Zetterberg stuffed it home with 6:06 to play.

An interference penalty to Doan two minutes later proved costly as Detroit padded its lead when Filppula wristed the puck through a screen from the right circle for a 6-4 advantage with 2:06 to play.

Zetterberg earned the hat trick with 47.1 to play on an empty-net goal.

The Coyotes got on the board halfway through the first period to draw first blood. Working with the puck behind the net, Martin Hanzal skated out the left side and threw a turnaround shot on net. Howard made the save, but the rebound kicked out front and Yandle threw it into the net over Howard’s glove.

Bryzgalov was sharp in the first period as he stopped 13 shots.

The first half of the second period was a scoring fest as the teams combined for five goals over a 3:58 span.

Detroit got the first goal on the power play as Filppula and Zetterberg worked a give-and-go, with Filppula passing it from the right circle to the slot where Zetterberg redirected it into the net at 6:27.

Just 38 seconds later the Coyotes tied the game as Howard left the puck for Niklas Kronwall at the right side of the net, but the puck got past Kronwall. Wolski pounced on it and chipped it in.

The Red Wings answered again 1:15 later as Johan Franzen’s backhand pass from the left boards found its way to the right side where Datsyuk flung it into the net.

Less than a minute later, Doan chipped the puck behind the defense and Lombardi caught up to it and slipped a backhand between the pads of Howard, but Filppula scored on almost the same exact play as Bertuzzi got the puck into the Phoenix end as he was hit and Filppula grabbed it before sliding the puck between Bryzgalov’s pads at the 10:25 mark.

Detroit took a 4-3 lead 2:32 into the third when Abdelkader stole the puck from Wolski in his own zone and wristed the puck into the net.

Phoenix, though, tied the game near the midway mark of the frame. Derek Morris banked the puck out of his own zone off the boards and Vernon Fiddler caught up to it to create a 2-on-1. From the left wing, Fiddler threw it over to the right side where Doan slid it past Howard.

Bertuzzi and Kronwall each had two assists in the game...Detroit went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Phoenix was 0-for-4...This is the first time since 1992 that Detroit is playing a playoff series without home-ice advantage...Detroit and Phoenix split four games in the regular season, but both of the Coyotes’ wins came in overtime.