Oilers resist comeback, down Wings 6-5 in shootout

Edmonton's Dustin Penner descends on Detroit's Jimmy Howard Thursday night at Rexall Place. The Oilers beat the Wings 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch the highlights Patrick O'Sullivan, Dustin Penner, Shawn Horcoff, J.F. Jacques & Pat Quinn talk about the win The Other Side: Niklas Lidstrom, Jimmy Howard & coach Mike Babcock reflect on the loss to Edmonton

AUDIO

Audio highlights Patrick O'Sullivan Dustin Penner Shawn Horcoff J.F. Jacques Pat Quinn

SHOOTOUT RESULTS

Edmonton: Gagner - MISS Hemsky - MISS O'Sullivan - SCORE Detroit: Williams - MISS Datsyuk - MISS Zetterberg - MISS

THREE STARS

Dustin Penner, EDM - 1 goal & 4 points Darren Helm, DET - 2 points, +3 Shawn Horcoff, EDM - 1 goal & 3 points

UPDATE

With the win, Edmonton improves to 7-5-1 and moves into a tie with Calgary for eighth spot in the Western Conference.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton embarks on a short two-game road trip, starting Saturday, October 31 in Boston. The Halloween day game starts at 11am MST and will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet West.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

With two scoreless games weighing on them, the Oilers stepped up and produced five goals in the first half of Thursday's game vs. the Red Wings. But despite owning a 5-1 lead, Edmonton wasn't in the clear as Detroit countered with four unanswered snipes to tie the game and force extra time.

Nikolai Khabibulin and Jimmy Howard made big saves in overtime and the shootout, but Patrick O'Sullivan was the only one to light the lamp and the Oilers salvaged a 6-5 shootout win. With one goal and three assists, Dustin Penner led all skaters with four points in the game. Ales Hemsky added two goals, while J.F. Jacques and Shawn Horcoff rounded out Edmonton's list of scorers.

FIRST PERIOD

42 seconds into the game and 142:07 minutes since their last goal, Jacques broke the Oilers' scoreless streak. Although Red Wings goalie Howard made two stops on Gilbert Brule, Jacques persevered and forced home the puck to give the Oil a 1-0 lead.

Edmonton was assigned consecutive penalties shortly after the goal, but the club -- backed by Khabibulin -- kept Detroit to two shots during the four minutes. Although the Wings started to soar once back at even strength, the Oilers clipped them again at the nine-minute mark.

After Howard turned away Horcoff's slapper, the puck sailed out to Penner, who batted it past the scrambling goalie to double the home lead.

3:15 later, Edmonton's top line connected again -- this time on the powerplay. With Todd Bertuzzi serving a hooking minor, Hemsky, Horcoff, and Penner tic-tac-toed their way in on Howard, with Hemsky closing the pretty play with a solid and snappy wrister. In just over 12 minutes, the three unanswered goals eclipsed the club's goal total of the previous three games.

After 20 minutes, the Oilers owned a three-goal lead but trailed 15 shots to 12.

SECOND PERIOD

Like in the first period, the Oilers gave Howard little time to settle in at the beginning of the second. Near the one-minute mark, Penner snagged the puck in the neutral zone and fed it to Hemsky, who concluded his breakaway with a five-hole marker to make it 4-0.

A hooking minor to Valtteri Filppula helped Edmonton assume the shot lead, but Detroit got it back and, in the process, got on the scoreboard. Only six seconds after the infraction ended, Darren Helm crossed the blue line and slapped the puck just under Khabibulin's crossbar to get the Wings back within three.

Near the period's midway point, a third Wings penalty gave the Oilers another powerplay, and they made it two-for-three. Although Howard made a heart-stopping sick save on a Penner shot, the resulting convergence of players kept the puck bouncing around the crease. Horcoff eventually forced it across to put the Oilers up 5-1 and give Penner his fourth point of the game.

That unpretty goal was soon followed by an unlikely one, this time benefiting the Wings. From a sharp angle, Henrik Zetterberg tucked the puck inside Khabibulin's right post with just over seven minutes left in the period.

A couple of crossbars got the Wings within inches of narrowing the gap even further, but the visitors couldn't light the lamp and progressed to the third period down three goals and one shot.

THIRD PERIOD

The Red Wings were red hot at the start of the final frame, however lucky bounces and clutch saves from Khabibulin frustrated their attempts. But after a third Wings powerplay passed without a goal, the club found number three -- and then four -- at even strength.

From the point, Jonathan Ericsson fooled the Oilers goalie with a slapshot to make it 5-3. Then one minute later, Bertuzzi got in on the action to get his club within one.

The Wings attained 40 shots with eight minutes left in regulation, but it was number 41 that tied the game. After skating in on Khabibulin, Patrick Eaves fired through Peckham's legs and the goalie's defenses to complete the surprising comeback and put both clubs on even terms.

60 minutes failed to result in a sixth goal for either team, so the game progressed to overtime.

OVERTIME

Good scoring chances at both ends of the ice -- including a thrilling open net opportunity for Tom Gilbert -- got fans on their feet, but goalies and wide shots kept the game-winner off the board and the teams prepared for a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

The goalies were perfect in the first four shootout attempts, but Howard was unable to catch O'Sullivan's top shelf shot. It was then up to Zetterberg, but the Wings star couldn't fool Khabibulin a second time and the Oilers salvaged a 6-5 shootout win Thursday night.