Red Wings rally to defeat San Jose

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg answered the call for the Detroit Red Wings’ top players to be at their best.

Datsyuk scored off a rebound with 1:24 left and Zetterberg’s goal started a comeback in Detroit’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in Detroit that evened the Western Conference semifinal at a game apiece.

“Zetterberg and Datsyuk won us the game,” said Daniel Cleary, who scored the tying, short-handed goal.

Early on, the Sharks were dominant and looked as if they were headed to a 2-0 series lead.

Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist in the first 4:17, and San Jose held onto the two-goal lead until Zetterberg scored late in the first period. It took Detroit nearly 13 minutes to get a shot.

The Sharks made a rare mistake early in the third period with a Detroit-like giveaway. Cleary made them pay for it with the short-handed goal that made 2-all.

San Jose had two power plays midway through the final period, but took only four shots combined on them.

Detroit’s Dominik Hasek made 17 saves.

“We had opportunities throughout the game and Hasek made some great saves,” San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. “But I think about the dumb mistakes we made in the third period that you can’t make in a playoff game.”

“Suddenly, we’re in a best-of-5 series going back to their building,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

Devils 3, Senators 2 (2OT): At East Rutherford, N.J., Jamie Langenbrunner scored on a breakaway 1:55 into the second overtime to lift New Jersey to a victory over Ottawa, giving the Devils a home split of the first two games in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Langenbrunner picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, fought off a hook from trailing defenseman Joe Corvo and shoved the puck past sprawled goalie Ray Emery.

New Jersey seemed set to win it in regulation, after first-period goals by Brian Gionta and Sergei Brylin, but Dany Heatley tied it for the Senators with 26.4 seconds left in the third.

Martin Brodeur ended up with 43 saves to earn his 94th postseason victory, second only to Patrick Roy (151).