DETROIT (Reuters) - Henrik Zetterberg scored two power play goals and Daniel Cleary a penalty shot to give the Detroit Red Wings a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames for a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven NHL playoff series on Saturday.
The Wings, the top seed in the Western Conference, can end the series with a victory over the eighth-seeded Flames in Calgary on Sunday, and the Flames are glad to be getting back on home ice.
"We obviously want it this way," Calgary's Jarome Iginla told reporters. "Now it is truly do or die. Our backs have been at the wall before, and we have responded. It can't be closer now. This is it."
The Flames lost the first two games of the series in Detroit, but then won Games Three and Four at home and will be looking to do the same in Game Six.
Cleary, scoring the game's first goal, was awarded a penalty shot when he was pulled down on a short-handed breakaway in the second period. He then delivered the first home penalty shot goal in Detroit playoff history.
The Red Wings scored all five of their goals on special teams - three on the power play and two short-handed.
The game got ugly in the final minutes, with Calgary backup goalie Jamie McLennan slashing Detroit's Johan Franzen in the stomach and receiving a match penalty and game misconduct, one of numerous third-period penalties.
"The bottom line is that we had two teams that played very hard tonight," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "You know it was a tough game."
*At Dallas, the Stars ended a six-game home playoff losing streak and kept their season alive with a 2-0 victory over the Canucks that sets up a decisive Game Seven in Vancouver on Monday. The Stars have for the first time in their history rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to force a Game Seven.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.
The Wings, the top seed in the Western Conference, can end the series with a victory over the eighth-seeded Flames in Calgary on Sunday, and the Flames are glad to be getting back on home ice.
"We obviously want it this way," Calgary's Jarome Iginla told reporters. "Now it is truly do or die. Our backs have been at the wall before, and we have responded. It can't be closer now. This is it."
The Flames lost the first two games of the series in Detroit, but then won Games Three and Four at home and will be looking to do the same in Game Six.
Cleary, scoring the game's first goal, was awarded a penalty shot when he was pulled down on a short-handed breakaway in the second period. He then delivered the first home penalty shot goal in Detroit playoff history.
The Red Wings scored all five of their goals on special teams - three on the power play and two short-handed.
The game got ugly in the final minutes, with Calgary backup goalie Jamie McLennan slashing Detroit's Johan Franzen in the stomach and receiving a match penalty and game misconduct, one of numerous third-period penalties.
"The bottom line is that we had two teams that played very hard tonight," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "You know it was a tough game."
*At Dallas, the Stars ended a six-game home playoff losing streak and kept their season alive with a 2-0 victory over the Canucks that sets up a decisive Game Seven in Vancouver on Monday. The Stars have for the first time in their history rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to force a Game Seven.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.
