Jamie Benn Punches Henrik Zetterberg In The Face [VIDEO]
DALLAS (AP) — After a wild third period that featured six goals, Niklas Kronwall kept overtime short and sweet for the Detroit Red Wings.
Kronwall scored 36 seconds into the extra session and Detroit defeated the Dallas Stars 7-6 on Saturday night after overcoming a pair of two-goal deficits in the third.
"We didn't do many good things out there. We've got to be a lot better than that," Kronwall said. "But we got lucky."
Kronwall's goal wasn't nearly as debated as teammate Pavel Datsyuk's second of the night, which tied the game at 18:12 of the third period.
Dallas coach Lindy Ruff and goalie Kari Lehtonen both thought Detroit's Justin Abdelkader interfered with Lehtonen on the play.
"I just got kind of pushed in the net and the puck was sliding the other way at the same time," Lehtonen said. "It's weird how they can look at some things from the video and that kind of thing, they cannot. They got it wrong."
Ruff was blunt.
"There's no explanation. It's inexcusable. It ruined a hell of a hockey game, bottom line," he said.
Before that, Trevor Daley, Cody Eakin and Erik Cole scored in a 3-minute span of the second to give Dallas a 4-2 lead.
But then Jakub Kindl had two goals 45 seconds apart in the third to tie it 4-all in his return from the minors.
"We just said to each other on the bench or in the locker room, 'They scored quick goals, and we can do the same thing,'" Kindl said.
Curtis McKenzie and Shawn Horcoff gave the Stars a 6-4 advantage before Abdelkader and Datsyuk scored to make it 6-all.
Horcoff's goal chased Jimmy Howard from the game after he gave up a season-high six goals while making 26 saves. Jonas Gustavsson stopped two shots for the Red Wings.
"I put (Gustavsson) in. Glad we were able to get him 10 minutes," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "The next thing you know, we won the game.
"We can talk about how ugly of a game it was; we got two points."
Lehtonen had 29 saves but allowed a season-high seven goals.
Datsyuk also had two assists. Kronwall, Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist. Tomas Tatar added two assists for the Red Wings.
Daley, Cole, Horcoff and Jamie Benn each had a goal and an assist for the Stars. Jordie Benn and Ales Hemsky had two assists apiece.
The Red Wings had an 8-1 advantage in shots before Dallas captain Jamie Benn woke up the Stars with a fight against Detroit's Jonathan Ericsson 6:46 into the game.
"Two-goal lead, and then you work hard to get one back and then you blow another one," Jamie Benn said. "That's unacceptable."
NOTES: Jamie Benn has scored in six straight games (seven goals, three assists). ... Dallas reassigned rookie LW Brendan Ranford to Texas of the AHL. ... The Red Wings had won their previous five games in Dallas. ... Datsyuk has 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) in 40 career games against the Stars. ... Kindl had the first two-goal game of his 242-game career. He was recalled from Grand Rapids of the AHL to replace D Kyle Quincey, who did not play after leaving Friday's practice because of a lower-body injury. ... Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg (upper body) left after the second period and did not return. ... The Red Wings had not given up more than five goals in their first 56 games.
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