Times wires
Sunday, May 8, 2011
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tomas Holmstrom tipped in the winner with 6:08 left, one of three goals the Red Wings scored in the third as they beat the Sharks 4-3 Sunday to avoid elimination.
Detroit lost the series' first three games but now has won two in a row to send it back to Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday.
"There's a lot of character on this team. There's not any quit," said Detroit's Jimmy Howard, who made 39 saves. "Our season was on the line there in the third period, and we found a way."
Only three teams have overcome 3-0 deficits to win series: last season's Flyers, the 1942 Maple Leafs and 1975 Islanders.
The Red Wings already have overcome a repeat of last season, when they went down 3-0 to the Sharks in the conference semifinals before being eliminated in Game 5 at San Jose.
Logan Couture beat Howard on a breakaway Sunday to put San Jose up 3-1 just 54 seconds into the third. But Jonathan Ericsson and Dan Cleary scored in a span of 1:46 to tie it.
Then Nicklas Lidstrom sent a shot from the slot that Holmstrom redirected top shelf past Antti Niemi.
"When we go up 3-1, we usually finish teams off," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said.
"They fought back very hard. We made a couple of careless plays. And against their skilled players, they put those in."
| Red Wings | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Sharks | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
First Period—1, San Jose, Setoguchi 5 (Boyle, Thornton), 17:18. Penalties—Stuart, Det (boarding), 5:46; Lidstrom, Det (tripping), 12:26; Franzen, Det (slashing), 17:43; Thornton, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:43.
Second Period—2, San Jose, Pavelski 5 (Clowe, Wellwood), 15:32. 3, Detroit, Kronwall 2 (Datsyuk, Stuart), 16:25. Penalties—Datsyuk, Det (holding), 2:46; Thornton, SJ (hooking), 10:05.
Third Period—4, San Jose, Couture 4 (Heatley), :54. 5, Detroit, Ericsson 1 (Zetterberg, Datsyuk), 3:43. 6, Detroit, Cleary 2 (Kronwall, Bertuzzi), 5:29. 7, Detroit, Holmstrom 3 (Lidstrom, Datsyuk), 13:52. Penalties—Heatley, SJ (high-sticking), 1:25; Abdelkader, Det (elbowing), 14:55. Shots on Goal—Detroit 7-9-6—22. San Jose 16-14-12—42. Power-play opportunities—Detroit 0 of 2; San Jose 0 of 4. Goalies—Detroit, Howard 6-3-0 (42 shots-39 saves). San Jose, Niemi 6-4-0 (22-18). A—17,562 (17,562).
