Holmstrom Red-Hot Come Playoff Time

Maybe Tomas Holmstrom just needs an “OV” at the end of his name. An association with the Detroit Red Wings’ Russian house could come with perks.

A link to the ruble might get Holmstrom recognized outside the rabble in the Motor City. It could mean more ice time. There may even be a little bigger paycheck involved.

Tomas Holmstrom-ov A little long, but . . .

“I do have some Russian blood in me,” said Holmstrom, who is from Sweden. “My grandpa’s grandpa was from Russia. Maybe I should tell them.”

Naw, why spoil a good thing.

Let Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Igor Larionov and others get the attention. Holmstrom can stay true to Sweden and keep working his magic.

He did so Sunday in Detroit’s 4-2 victory at the Arrowhead Pond, pulling a game-tying goal out of thin air. OK, he knocked one in, slapping the puck past Duck goalie Guy Hebert to tie the score, 2-2, 1 minute 51 seconds into the second period.

Replays seem to show Holmstrom batted the puck while it was above the crossbar, illegal under NHL rules. Video goal judge Tom Wardell either had a different camera angle or just saw it differently.

Holmstrom never doubted it. Well, maybe just a little.

“You never know what’s going to happen when they go up there,” Holmstrom said. “This happens to me a lot. The last time was against Colorado and they said I was in the crease.”

Was he?

“I don’t really remember that one,” Holmstrom said. “This one was good. I’m happy.”

The Ducks aren’t. They were trying to prevent the desperate situation they now find themselves in, down 3-0 in their first-round playoff series. Holmstrom’s goal seemed to put some zip into the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

He wasn’t an unlikely hero, merely an unknown one beyond Detroit and Pieta, Sweden. Holmstrom was Detroit’s ninth pick in the 1994 draft and hardly burst on the scene as a rookie in 1996-97.

He has, though, suddenly become a pain to the Ducks. Holmstrom never scored a point against them until this season. Then he scored a game-winner in a 5-2 victory on Nov. 25. He had an assist in Game One and a goal in Game Two.

“Homer just grinds people down,” Brendan Shanahan said. “As the game goes on, he gets under their skin. You can see it.”

This wasn’t quite a breakthrough year, but Holmstrom did score a career-high 13 goals, four of which were game-winners. This followed last season’s playoffs, when Holmstrom was third on the team with seven goals and 19 points.

He scored goals in the first three games of the St. Louis series last season. He also scored 35 seconds into the third game against Washington in the Cup final, a 2-1 Red Wing victory.

“He doesn’t see a lot of ice time, but he always seems to score important goals,” Red Wing Coach Scotty Bowman said. “You have to give him a lot of credit.”

One would think more ice time as well. But the Red Wings don’t lack for goal scorers with Fedorov, Kozlov, Larionov and Steve Yzerman in the lineup. They even went out and picked up an extra at the trade deadline, getting Wendel Clark from Tampa Bay.

“Who do you take ice time away from?” Holmstrom said. “The only thing to do is make the most out of every shift and take care of business.”

Which is a lot easier than changing your name.