Detroit Rallies To Even Series Down 2-0, Red Wings’ Hustle Finally Pays Off For 4-2 Win

The Detroit Red Wings outworked and outplayed the Colorado Avalanche for the second straight game, and this time they were rewarded.

Steve Yzerman and Darren McCarty scored goals in the final four minutes, rallying the Red Wings to a 4-2 win Saturday night and squaring the Western Conference finals 1-1.

Detroit thoroughly dominated the defending Stanley Cup champions, but had to rally from a 2-0 deficit. The Red Wings, who outshot Colorado 35-19 in the series opener but lost 2-1, again enjoyed a huge advantage, outshooting the Avs 40-17.

Still, the Wings trailed by two goals in the second period before Igor Larionov got the first Detroit score. Sergei Fedorov tied it early in the third.

Larionov’s power-play goal deflected in off Colorado defenseman Adam Foote.

“After that goal, luck started to go our way,” Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said. “It was a fortunate play for us, and it seemed to spark our team.”

Yzerman scored his 44th career playoff goal, banking a shot off goalie Patrick Roy’s pads from behind the net to break a 2-2 tie at 16:00.

“I just tried to throw it out in front of him,” Yzerman said. “Even if it doesn’t go in, there’s a chance that we might get a rebound.”

After defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom made a stick save to rob Colorado’s Eric Lacroix on a shot at an unguarded net moments later, McCarty scored on a breakaway at 18:43.

The series shifts to Detroit for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday.

Yzerman’s go-ahead goal, his fourth of the playoffs, came after he shot from the left circle. The rebound came behind the net, where Yzerman squeezed a shot between Roy and the goalpost.

The Avalanche had won their previous 11 home playoff games.

Bowman said he wasn’t worried about the 2-0 deficit.

“We were playing pretty well,” he said. “We weren’t discouraged. I thought we just had to push harder. After the second period, I told our team we were starting to worry the other team, so just keep working, keep playing hard.”

Avalanche coach Marc Crawford said his team “played awful. We played as individuals. When you do that, teams that play a strong puck-possession game and move the puck as well as the Red Wings do, they beat you.

“It was just a matter of time before it was going to happen. In the first game, we played a very strong third period and Patrick kept us in it. Tonight, we tried to do the same thing. They played a lot better than we did.”

Scott Young’s power-play goal late in the first period gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. Sandis Ozolinsh sent a delayed pass from the right circle to Young, who scored from the left circle at 18:37. It was only the second goal for Young in the last 27 games and just the fifth shot of the period for the Avalanche.

Detroit failed to score on two earlier power plays as the Avalanche continued their impressive penalty-killing at home - 35 kills in 36 opportunities.

The Red Wings outshot Colorado 13-5 in the first period. Roy made big saves on shots by Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan, and Martin Lapointe hit the right post. Detroit’s Mike Vernon made a point-blank save off Valeri Kamensky.

Detroit continued to pepper Roy with shots in the second period, enjoying a 17-6 advantage. But Colorado moved to a 2-0 lead on Claude Lemieux’s NHL-leading 11th playoff goal. Lemieux, matching his goal total in 45 regular-season games, punched in a rebound of Kamensky’s shot at 16:09, extending his points streak to nine games.

Moments later, after a high-sticking penalty on Ozolinsh, Larionov scored his second goal of the playoffs at 16:51.

It ended an 0-for-9 power-play drought by Detroit in the series.

The Red Wings scored another power-play goal at 2:10 of the third period when Fedorov connected from the left circle.

Vyacheslav Kozlov subsequently had a shot at an open net, but Roy made a diving save.

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 2

Detroit 0 1 3 - 4

Colorado 1 1 0 - 2

First period-1, Colorado, Young 2 (Ozolinsh, Ricci), 18:37 (pp).

Second period-2, Colorado, Lemieux 11 (Kamensky, Forsberg), 16:09. 3, Detroit, Larionov 2 (Fedorov, Lidstrom), 16:51 (pp).

Third period-4, Detroit, Fedorov 3 (Yzerman, Lidstrom), 2:10. 5, Detroit, Yzerman 4, 16:00. 6, Detroit, McCarty 2 (Shanahan), 18:43.

Shots on goal-Detroit 13-17-10-40. Colorado 5-6-6-17.Power-play opp.-Detroit 2 of 5; Colorado 1 of 3.Goalies-Detroit, Vernon 9-3 (17 shots-15 saves). Colorado, Roy 9-4 (40-36).A-16,061 (16,061).