Recap: Edmonton vs. Detroit

Sports Network | October 30, 2009

Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Patrick O'Sullivan buried the game-winning shootout goal, and Edmonton overcame blowing a four-goal lead in regulation to post a wild 6-5 win over Detroit at Rexall Place.

After Nikolai Khabibulin turned back the first two Red Wings shooters, O'Sullivan slammed a hard shot off the left post and back off the center support bar to light the lamp. Khabibulin was then called upon one last time and denied a Henrik Zetterberg offering to clinch the victory.

Khabibulin was burned for five goals, four over the final 27-plus minutes, on 45 shots. With the win, he tied Billy Smith for 20th all-time in career victories with his 305th.

Ales Hemsky scored twice and added an assist for Edmonton, while Dustin Penner had a four-point night with a goal and three helpers. Shawn Horcoff snapped a seven-game pointless streak with a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who brought a scoreless run of 141 minutes and 25 seconds into the game.

That evaporated 42 seconds in on Jean-Francois Jacques' second of the season. Edmonton had been shut out in back-to-back games and was riding a three-game losing streak coming in.

"Well, they all count," Penner said. "We got the two points, we gave Detroit one. [Khabibulin] kept us in the game and, down the road, we've got to make the games easier for him because he's been winning for us."

Jonathan Ericsson, Patrick Eaves and Darren Helm logged a goal and assist each for the Red Wings, who are 1-1-2 on their current five-game road trip.

Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday against the Canucks -- a win that also represented its first road victory of the season.

Jimmy Howard received the start in that one, having taken over for a struggling Chris Osgood, who surrendered two goals on four shots before being pulled. Howard was back in net Thursday and wasn't much better, letting in five goals on 33 shots.

The loss proved more costly for the Red Wings than just a game in the standings, as forward Valtteri Filppula suffered a broken wrist and will miss the next 6-to-8 weeks.

The Oilers built up a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead on Horcoff's power- play tally approaching the midway point of the game, but a Zetterberg goal less than four minutes later began the Red Wings' comeback.

The third period started with Edmonton still holding a three-goal advantage, but that was quickly cut to one as Ericsson and Todd Bertuzzi scored 1:15 apart for a 5-4 game at the 7:47 mark. Eaves completed the comeback with 7:07 to play in regulation, blasting a loose puck from the right circle past a bewildered Khabibulin.

"We said even after the first period we have to start slowly and creep back into this game," Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "Go one goal at a time, and just wait for our opportunities, not sway away from our game plan. I thought in the third period we played even better, I thought we got the puck in behind him, we stayed away from the turnovers we had in the first two periods."

The goaltenders stepped up their games in the late stages to send it to a shootout. Howard was especially impressive with the clock winding down in overtime, sprawling to make several saves with a horde of Oilers hawking the crease.

Detroit swept its four-game series with Edmonton last year...Edmonton was 2- for-3 on the power play while the Red Wings were 0-for-3...Pavel Datsyuk picked up two assists for Detroit, which completes its road swing Saturday in Calgary...The Oilers play in Boston on Saturday.