Recap: Sharks Beat Red Wings 5-2

A period of eight seconds elapsed in the second quarter in which two goals were scored and the tide of battle changed. Logan Couture picked up his first of two goals on the night off of a Ryane Clowe pass from the faceoff win with a wrist shot to beat Jimmy Howard. This came eight seconds after Niclas Wallin put the puck in net (originally thought to be a tip-in for Dany Heatley) off of a Justin Braun pass, who picked it up off of Jamal Mayers from ... the original Wallin shot.

Couture would add a second goal in the third period to put the Sharks up by three, which they wouldn't relinquish. Dany Heatley was part of the Sharks three-goal second period when he utilized extreme patience to beat Howard one-on-one near the end of the period. Joe Thornton got the scoring started for San Jose with a shorthanded goal off of a beautiful pass from Dany Heatley on the two-on-one.

Antti Niemi was stellar, keeping the Red Wings scoreless in periods two and three after giving up two in the first. He was good for 25-of-27 saves with a .926 save percentage. Jimmy Howard saved 30-of-35 in a losing effort, with a .857 percentage.

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said that the first period was probably the worst of their season, and something happened during the first intermission. The Sharks played slow, lazy hockey in the first period outside of an initial scoring opportunity at the very beginning of the matchup, but after the intermission they came out fast, with energy and didn't let up for the next forty minutes of play. They took almost every one-on-one and beat their guy, Niemi was lockdown and the Sharks were able to walk out of Joe Louis Arena with a win.

Logan Couture Picks Up Second Goal, Sharks Lead 5-2

Derek Joslin picked up a big hit about a minute into the third period, almost flipping a Red Wings player completely over him. At 2:36 of the period, Valterri Filppula was called for hi-sticking on Joe Thornton and San Jose gets a rare third period power play at Joe Louis Arena.

They weren't able to do much with it though - once again with the man advantage, they failed to convert any chances and ultimately failed at creating chances. The Red Wings flipped it back out of the zone four separate times and the power play came to an end. So naturally, the Sharks turned things up and created scoring opportunities. Surreal.

Ryane Clowe, Scott Nichol and Justin Braun all had shots on goal before Jimmy Howard covered it up. San Jose used effective passing and won their matchups, and did a good job keeping control at even strength. Uneventful down to the ten-minute mark, but then Logan Couture gets a goal! He can't make the play at first, passes off to Ryane Clowe, who puts it on net where Couture was waiting to put it in the back of the net. It's reviewed, and it stands. 5-2 lead for San Jose.

Be sure to head on over and discuss the game with fellow Sharks fans at Fear The Fin.

Sharks Score Three Unanswered In Second Period, Lead Red Wings, 4-2 Going Into Third

The Sharks continued their strong, fast play following their two goals, but eventually the Red Wings got it back into San Jose's zone and drew a penalty from Jamal Mayers on Justin Abdelkader, who seems to be a big target for San Jose today.

Detroit creates some opportunities in the power play, and were absolutely robbed by Antti Niemi at one point. The Sharks penalty kill worked to get the puck out of the zone, and actually got away with a solid killed penalty at Joe Louis while sustaining a lead, something San Jose isn't ... let's just say, isn't known for.

Tomas Holmstrom is called for goaltender interference. Mike Babcock is complaining to the reporter that it wasn't a penalty, always eager to get a word in. San Jose begins a power play of their own, but have no opportunities throughout the majority. Every time they get it in the zone, the Red Wings clear it out all the way back to Antti Niemi with almost no resistance. The power play ended without anything of note happening and only minimal shots taken on Jimmy Howard.

The Sharks then got things going after the power play, with several scoring chances and good control within the zone. Patrick Marleau and Niclas Wallin kept the puck in the zone and each San Jose player beat each Detroit player every time the puck was contested, but they weren't able to convert any of the scoring chances for this particular offensive attack.

A couple posession changes later and Dany Heatley got ahold of the puck again off a pass off the boards from Douglas Murray. Heatley skated at Howard, who came forward and was beaten for the Sharks fourth goal of the night, the second for Dany Heatley. Heatley was the calmer of the two, and it paid off at 18:57 of the second period.

The period comes to a close with San Jose leading at 4-2. Be sure to join in on the gameday discussion over at Fear The Fin.

Sharks Score Twice Within Ten Seconds, Lead 3-2 In Second Period

The Red Wings began the period with just over a minute of power play time to go, Joe Thornton in the box. Tomas Holmstrom had a big try that went side glove side of Antti Niemi, before Marc-Edouard Vlasic cleared the puck. Todd Verduzzi followed it up with a huge chance that Niemi got in front of and made the save on. The penalty comes to an end and Derek Joslin gets a good shot on Jimmy Howard, but he gets on top of it and stops play.

Patrick Marleau took it down showed impressive speed, getting a shot off of Howard's stick, Dan Boyle fired off a shot, then Marleau again, and right after, Jamie McGinn got a piece of it as well, but Jimmy Howard was able to stop all three shots. San Jose is playing fast hockey out there. We get a line change for San Jose and Niclas Wallin is out on point, he fires it in and Jamal Mayers sends it back to Justin Braun, who puts it back again to Wallin, who puts it on net and it looks as though Dany Heatley gets the deflection in to tie the game at two all.

We've got a faceoff and Ryane Clowe gets the puck to Logan Couture who takes it to net and beats Jimmy Howard on the gloveside to give the Sharks a one goal lead in just a few seconds. Sharks lead 3-2 in the second period.

Our Sharks blog, Fear The Fin, has an ongoing gameday thread for your discussion and perusal.

Sharks Score Shorthanded, Red Wings Get Two Power Plays, Lead 2-1

San Jose looked to create a scoring opportunity directly following the Red Wings whistled-off goal, but turnovers in Detroit's zone lead to blown chances. Still, they forced Jimmy Howard to make a couple saves, and then the Red Wings drew a power play after a hit on Joe Pavelski from Justin Abdelkader.

The Sharks started very strong on their power play, but the Red Wings defense started stronger. Dan Boyle did a great job of keeping it in zone for over a minute while Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau created shots on goals. They fired off several shots on goal but were unable to convert any of them before Detroit finally got the puck out of their zone to end the power play.

They continued their strong play though, and got the puck back in Detroit's zone and kept it there, before Pavel Datsyuk took got the pass off a steal and took it down ice right in front of Antti Niemi, where he passed to Darren Helm at the last second who almost got the goal, but Niemi defended well.

Derek Joslin was called again on a penalty for San Jose and the Red Wings power play unit took the ice once again. Antti Niemi had a good save off of a Brian Rafalski shot that seemed to surprise everyone, and got the cover-up after a Tomas Holmstrom shot.

With thirty seconds to go on the power play, the Sharks created a turnover and a two-on-one ensued down the ice with Dany Heatley controlling the puck and Joe Thornton opposite, a couple stick moves from Heatley and a very quick, fluid and sly pass to Thornton, the Sharks captain put it in net to get the shorthanded goal and tie the game up at one-all.

Hold the phone - just as I was about to publish this update, Ryane Clowe was called on a penalty against Niklas Kronwall. Detroit couldn't get the puck in net for the first minute, and then Johan Franzen put it in net with nobody around him to put Detroit up 2-1 in the first period.

And now .. Joe Thornton goes to the penalty box for San Jose after a holding call. Detroit has a power play with forty seconds remaining in the period. Not much to report for that forty seconds as the period ends with Detroit leading 2-1 and outshooting the Sharks 16-9.

Fear The Fin has their gameday thread for discussion, so head on over.

Sharks Trail Red Wings 1-0 After Power Play Goal

Some good, fast hockey to start the game. The Sharks created some scoring opportunities early, creating turnovers and keeping the puck in Detroit's zone, but that was flipped the other way after about two minutes, with the Red Wings creating most of the turnovers. Both goalies have made a couple good saves, with Antti Niemi of the Sharks coming up with a big one early.

After the initial offensive opportunity, the Red Wings began to pile on the scoring chances. San Jose is doing all they can to get the puck our of their own zone and then had to deal with a power play following a big hit from Derek Joslin on Justin Abdelkader.

Didn't take long for Detroit, Nicklas Lidstrom got a goal in early on into the power play and the Red Wings took a 1 - 0 lead. Shortly after just off the faceoff, the Red Wings almost put it in goal again, but San Jose was saved by the whistle.

Be sure to head on over to Fear The Fin for their gameday thread and join in on the discussion.

Sharks And Red Wings At It Again

(Sports Network) - The Detroit Red Wings hope to avoid their first home regulation loss in over five weeks this evening at Joe Louis Arena against the team that eliminated them from last year's postseason, the San Jose Sharks.

Detroit has gone 7-0-1 since its lone regulation loss in Motown this year on Oct. 28. The Red Wings begin a three-game homestand tonight and are 10-1-2 as the hosting club this season.

Seeking a season-best fifth straight win on Saturday, Detroit closed out a three-game trip through California with a 3-2 overtime setback in Los Angeles. Jonathan Ericsson and Todd Bertuzzi scored the goals for the Red Wings before Anze Kopitar of the Kings beat Chris Osgood with just 56 seconds left in overtime.

"We got to play smart. We didn't have our legs moving and we just didn't do our best today," said Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg.

Osgood, playing for the first time since Oct. 30 due to a groin pull, finished with 22 saves. Detroit also had forward Kris Draper in the lineup for the first time this season after a groin injury and sports hernia surgery caused him to miss the first 23 games.

The Red Wings opened up their four-game regular season series with the Sharks in San Jose on Nov. 30, posting a 5-3 win. Though Detroit has won five of six and six of its last eight versus San Jose, it was eliminated in five games by the Sharks in last season's Western Conference semifinals.

The Sharks, who have just three wins in their last 16 regular-season trips to Motown, dropped a 3-1 test in Montreal on Saturday and have now split the first two contests of a five-game swing.

Benn Ferriero scored his third goal in four games for San Jose, which couldn't sustain the momentum from Thursday's 4-0 victory in Ottawa and has lost six of its last nine games (3-4-2). Antti Niemi, who started Thursday's shutout, allowed three goals on only 19 shots for the loss.

"We made a lot of mistakes just to allow three," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "You have to give them credit, because they earned those three goals. We weren't overwhelmed by their offense, but there was enough of it for them to get the win."

McLellan could opt to stick with Niemi tonight given that he is 2-1-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average in his career versus Detroit. His other option, Antero Niittymaki, has lost both of his career starts against the club, allowing 11 goals on 70 shots.

Detroit head coach Mike Babcock will likely go back to Jimmy Howard tonight and the 15-game winner so far this season is 3-0-1 with a 1.96 GAA in four regular-season meetings with San Jose.

He was in net for all five playoff games last year versus San Jose, posting a 2.97 GAA.