Red Wings Fall In Shootout, 5-4, In Howard's Return

DETROIT (AP) — Drew Stafford scored the only shootout goal Saturday night to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

His wrister got past Detroit's Jimmy Howard in the fourth round of the tiebreaker and Michael Hutchinson stopped Stephen Weiss on the ensuing attempt to seal the win.

Howard, who missed 11 games with a partially torn groin muscle, made 34 saves for Detroit in his first start since Jan. 6. The Jets' Hutchinson stopped 25.

Andrew Ladd also had a regulation goal for Winnipeg, which improved to 14-6-4 against Eastern Conference teams this season. Pavel Datsyuk had two goals for Detroit.

The loss ended Detroit's six-game home winning streak.

Ladd's power-play goal gave the Jets a 4-3 lead early in the third, but Datsyuk tied it with a wrist shot with 6:33 to play. Winnipeg's Mathieu Perreault had a great chance to end the game early in overtime but Howard stopped his breakaway shot.

The Jets got the game's first goal less than four minutes in after Chris Thorburn redirected Jacob Trouba's shot past Howard. Winnipeg drew matching minor penalties later in the period and Niklas Kronwall knotted the score with a power-play marker.

Detroit's Darren Helm backhanded a rebound early in the second and assisted on Datsyuk's first goal a few minutes later but the Jets rallied to tie the game midway through. Blake Wheeler knocked in a rebound to halve the deficit and Stafford knotted the score when his shot dribbled out of Howard's grasp.

Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey was helped off the ice late in the third period after crashing into a corner but returned to action shortly after. He was assessed a roughing penalty at 2:50 of overtime but the Jets were unable to convert.

Notes: The Red Wings had three goalies on the active roster Saturday but that could change soon. Petr Mrazek, who went 8-2 in Howard's absence, could be sent down to Grand Rapids of the AHL because Babcock said he'd rather the 23-year-old play regularly. . The goal was Stafford's first since coming to Winnipeg in the trade that sent Evander Kane and Zach Bagosian to Buffalo. . Detroit sent defenseman Jakub Kindl to Grand Rapids for a four-game conditioning stint.

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