It was a milestone night at the Joe tonight as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 in the shootout.
First, it was the Wings’ 13th straight home victory which ties a franchise record.
Second Jimmy Howard recorded his 100th career win after it announced that he would be on this year’s All-Star squad in Ottawa.
Third, head coach Mike Babcock managed to get his 400th career victory with 331 of those victories coming with the Wings.
The highlight of the night though came in the shootout.
After three rounds and the score tied 1-1, Henrik Zetterberg was inserted into the shootout after Todd Bertuzzi was sidelined with an injury.
Zetterberg didn’t disappoint.
As he skated in on Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith, Zetterberg appeared to try a similar shot in which Filppula was denied with Smiths right pad. However Zetterberg had one more deke in him as he stretched out and was able to gently put the puck past the goal line.
Jimmy Howard then went on to make the final save of the shootout period sealing the victory for the Wings.
Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen scored in regulation for the Wings with Franzen’s goal coming midway through the third period to tie the game at 2.
Some of the Wings’ younger talent also performed well as Cory Emmerton rattled one off the post after taking a shot laying on the ice. Forward Jan Mursak also made his season debut for the Wings after recovering from an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason.
Ref: Mlive.com, DetroitRedWings.com, USA Today (image)