Late Flurry Not Enough to Lift Wings Out of Tie

An apparent Red Wings goal with .2 seconds remaining in overtime was waived off as Detroit settled for a 1-1 tie with the Phoenix Coyotes Thursday night.

In the game’s final seconds, with Detroit shorthanded, Red Wings goaltender Curtis Joseph gloved the puck and skated through the right faceoff circle, moviing around a Phoenix forward before playing the puck up to Brendan Shanahan at the center red line. Shanahan broke into the Coyotes’ zone and crashed the net, joined by defenseman Mathieu Schneider. One of Shanahan’s shots bounced off Schneider into the net but not before a referee attempted to blow the play dead.

After review, the goal was disallowed and the game ended in a tie.

After a scoreless first period, the Red Wings opened the scoring with 8:20 remaining in the second. Henrik Zetterberg fought to win a faceoff to the right of Phoenix goalie Brian Boucher and pushed the puck to Shanahan in the slot. Shanahan’s quick shot beat Boucher to give the Red Wings a one-goal lead.

The Coyotes evened things up early in the third period, as Erik Westrum scored his first career goal just 2:11 in. Fredrik Sjostrom got the puck to Westrum off a faceoff to Joseph’s right. Westrum skated untouched through the slot to the and along the edge of the crease to the far side of the net. Joseph dove and lost his stick stretching to block Westrum’s shot but the puck ended up in the net and the game was tied.

A wide-open final 22 minutes couldn’t produce another goal and the game ended in a tie.

The point moves the Red Wings into a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the NHL standings but without the win, the Wings were unable to clinch the Central Division championship.

Joseph, making his third start since returning from an ankle injury, stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced. Boucher turned away 46 of 47 shots.

The Red Wings continue their road trip Saturday night in Los Angeles.

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Pavel Datsyuk played for the first time in six games, returning from an ankle injury… Anders Myrvold returned to the Red Wings lineup after being called up from Grand Rapids to replace the re-injured Derian Hatcher. Hatcher expects to play Saturday or Sunday.