Red Wings Rally for Wild Tie

Playing hard for one period isn’t enough to earn a win, even for a team with Detroit’s talent. However, a late surge after 40 minutes of frustration was enough to earn the Red Wings a point.

Luc Robitaille’s unassisted goal late in the third period lifted Detroit into a 3-3 tie with the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night and extended the Red Wings’ unbeaten string to four games.

Detroit survived a Minnesota power play in the overtime after Brendan Shanahan was called for hooking. Minnesota managed just one shot during the man advantage.

“That was a big goal by Luc, but before that it felt like we were just going through the motions for two periods,” Shanahan said. “We finally played with some desperation in the third.”

Detroit’s other goals were scored by Steve Yzerman, who left the game midway through the second period after being hit on the left ankle by a shot by Jason Marshall. Yzerman blocked the shot, then limped to the bench in obvious pain and was taken for X-rays.

“He left the building on crutches, but the preliminary X-rays were negative,” said Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman, who added that Yzerman was expected to sit out the Red Wings’ home game with Columbus tonight. “The X-rays didn’t show a break, but he’s in considerable pain. It was deemed a bad bruise, but he can’t put any weight on it.”

On the game-tying play, Minnesota defenseman Willie Mitchell tried to swat the puck away from the front of the net, but Robitaille intercepted it and got off a shot.

Mitchell had given Minnesota its first lead of the game when he broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period, banking a low shot off the far post and past goalie Dominik Hasek.

Detroit opened the scoring with the Red Wings on their second power play of the first period, when Yzerman beat Fernandez low on the glove side.