EDMONTON, Alberta -- Drew Miller scored his fourth goal in five games with 4:15 left in the third period Monday night, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
It was the second time this season that Miller scored the game-winning goal against Edmonton, as he had previously scored Detroit's first goal in a 3-0 win over the Oilers on November 11.
Darren Helm won a battle in the right corner with Ladislav Smid and sent the puck out to Nicklas Lidstrom at the left point. Lidstrom fired a shot that Miller tipped in the slot, redirecting it past Edmonton goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.
Danny Cleary had opened the game's scoring at 4:33 of the first period.
After a broken play in the right faceoff circle saw a series of shots blocked before they could get through to Khabibulin, the puck squirted out to Jakub Kindl at the top of the circle. Kindl snapped a shot that Cleary deflected past Khabibulin to get the Red Wings on the board.
The Oilers tied things back up at 2:37 of the second, when Ryan Jones broke in alone on netminder Jimmy Howard and snapped a shot past him to make it 1-1.
Detroit regained the lead with 5:24 left in the middle frame. Jiri Hudler parked himself in front of the Edmonton crease and tipped a Henrik Zetterberg shot from the slot past Khabibulin.
With less than a second remaining and Edmonton on a power play, Jordan Eberle jumped on a loose puck in the high slot and whipped it past Howard to tie things back up heading into the second intermission.
Eberle's goal was the only power play goal of the night. Edmonton had five tries with the extra attacker while the Red Wings had two.
Howard finished the night with 21 saves on 23 shots against. Khabibulin made 25 stops on 28 shots.
The Wings continue their road trip through Western Canada on Wednesday when they visit the Vancouver Canucks.
The Red Wings visit the Edmonton Oilers tonight for the first game of a road trip through Western Canada.
Detroit is going with the same lineup as they used in their 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, meaning Jimmy Howard gets the start and Mike Commodore is still a healthy scratch.
Nikolai Khabibulin gets the start for the Oilers.
Game time is 9:30 PM. TV is FSD.
Amazing redirect on one hell of a broken play.
Damn, Wings playing better on the PK than at full strength. Should leave a guy at the Edmonton blue line all night and see what happens.
Wings didn't have much in the first but come out with the lead. Can't complain about the lead but I'd like to see them bottle up the Oilers a bit more.
Will Commodore ever play? Wings coming out a little weak in the first. I kept holding my breath because it looked as if the bounces might go the other way. Like Clark said, I'm happy to have the lead however, we need to tighten up on defense. Our luck may run out...
Wings didn't have much in the first but come out with the lead. Can't complain about the lead but I'd like to see them bottle up the Oilers a bit more.
The Oilers are really, really fast, and they are getting around the Wings D with relatively little effort. The Wings are having trouble keeping them to the outside (which is usually one of their strengths)....
Will Commodore ever play?
Well he was scratched when Smith was playing, so I'm guessing no.
The Oilers are really, really fast, and they are getting around the Wings D with relatively little effort. The Wings are having trouble keeping them to the outside (which is usually one of their strengths)....
Fast teams scare the hell out of me. Wings get beat by speed too often.
Like that play right there. No one could get back to Jones.
Weak shot... Come on Jimmy, that is where you have to come up big!
Alright... What the f*ck just happened there. I was waiting for the replay to explain.
What the hell was that?
I'm not sure what that shield does for Kronner...
At least the PK looks good. Lets see what the power play does.
Nick needs to get on the scoresheet. It's been awhile.
Zata!!!!!!
Wings worked for that one. Hudler screening, that's just funny.
He had a footstool...
Hell of a shot but that never should have happened.
Wings living on deflections tonight. Really nice tip by Miller.
Drew Miller
Credit: Clark Rasmussen
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