Red Wings soar over Oilers 6-2

Edmonton's Ales Hemsky attempts to get the puck past Detroit's Jimmy Howard at Joe Louis Arena November 11, 2010. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

 

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PRE-GAME

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

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch Theo Peckham's first career NHL goal Watch Video Highlights. Oilers post-game reaction from Dustin Penner, Taylor Hall and head coach Tom Renney THE OTHER SIDE: Red Wings post-game comments from Johan Franzen, Jimmy Howard & head coach Mike Babcock

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Dustin Penner Taylor Hall Head Coach Tom Renney

THREE STARS

Dan Cleary, DET Valtteri Filppula, DET Tomas Holmstrom, DET

UPDATE

With the loss, the Oilers dropped to 4-8-2.

MORE

Under the Scope

WHAT'S NEXT

The Oilers depart Detroit after the game and fly into Newark, New Jersey. The club has little time to settle in before facing the Devils Friday, November 12 at 5:00pm MT. The game will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet West.

For the second consecutive game, the Oilers struggled against powerful offense and dropped a 6-2 decision to the Red Wings in Detroit Thursday night. Dustin Penner and Theo Peckham scored in the third period, but the late rally fell short and the club dropped to 1-2-0 on this five-game road trip.

Under the Scope

FIRST PERIOD

The Red Wings dominated the first few minutes of the game. Near the four-minute mark, Johan Franzen started an incredible offensive attack, capped with a flashy dance around shot-blocking Oilers defencemen, but the showcase ended in crowd disappointment as his shot hit the post.

Fans eventually got their goal, however. At 7:29, Valtteri Filppula redirected a behind-the-net feed past Nikolai Khabibulin to give the Wings a 1-0 lead.

One minute later, Edmonton benefited from the game's first power-play when Gilbert Brule drew a hooking minor, but Mike Modano was able to complete his full two-minutes without witnessing a visiting equalizer.

The Wings jumped further ahead three minutes later. With red jerseys swarming, Tomas Holmstrom managed to flip the puck over Khabibulin's left shoulder to make it 2-0.

Detroit soon topped 10 shots and then attained three goals. 4:10 after Holmstrom's marker, Dan Cleary snapped the puck home from a distance to put the Oilers down 3-0 heading into the second period.

SECOND PERIOD

The first intermission offered a short reprieve for the Oil, but less than three minutes into the second, the Wings struck again. For the second time in the game, Todd Bertuzzi set up Cleary for a goal, propelling Detroit further ahead.

At 5:22, the Wings were offered another great scoring opportunity when Modano was dragged down on a breakaway, but Khabibulin came up with a key kick save to maintain the score.

The Oilers put up a good fight near the midway point of the game, but goalie Jimmy Howard frustrated the visitors by keeping them off the board. A second Edmonton power-play helped the club narrow the shot gap, but the attempts failed to have an impact where it counts.

At 15:22, Detroit tasted the man-advantage when Andrew Cogliano was called for high-sticking. Edmonton killed the majority of the infraction, but at 17:03, Franzen scored his team's first power-play marker and the 100th of his NHL career to make it 5-0.

A late penalty to Brad Stuart put the Oilers on the man-advantage to start the final frame.

THIRD PERIOD

With four seconds left in the power-play, Dustin Penner broke Edmonton's goose-egg. Poised in Howard's crease, Penner caught a rebound and backhanded it across the line to get the visitors back within four.

Detroit hit 30 shots early in the third while the Oilers sat in the low 20's. With their 33rd shot, the Red Wings got their sixth goal, courtesy of Holmstrom.

The Oilers soon got that one back when Theo Peckham beat Howard for his first goal of the season, but it was too little, too late and Edmonton dropped a 6-2 decision Thursday night.