Brunner scores in overtime to even the series for the Red Wings
By Michael Caples –
DETROIT – Game 3 wasn’t the best of nights for Damien Brunner. His turnover in the Detroit zone while on a power play turned out to be a back-breaker for his team Saturday night.
Yet with one play late into the night on Monday, Brunner found some redemption – in the form of an overtime game-winning goal for the Red Wings.
The rookie forward managed to chip in a loose puck on a rebound left from a Gustav Nyquist rush to the Anaheim net, breaking a 2-2 tie 15:10 into overtime and evening the Western Conference Quarterfinal series at two games apiece.
“We won the puck in our zone, and they sent Gus, and Gus did an unbelievable job taking the puck out of there,” Brunner said. “He’s a speedy guy, he got both defenders turned, and he chipped that puck on the net, and obviously I had a wide-open net.”
The 27-year-old forward from Zurich, Switzerland said his teammates helped him through the emotions that came with the Wings’ previous game.
“Well you know, I blame myself a lot, it was not the best night of my life,” Brunner said. “But you know, the guys did a good job, kept me going the next day, kept my head up, they were joking about it, obviously I’m pretty happy that it ended up like that.”
Brunner can also thank Brendan Smith and Pavel Datsyuk for finding the back of the net in regulation, both times pulling the Red Wings into a tie after the club fell behind on home ice.
Jimmy Howard stopped 31 of 33 shots in the contest, helping the Wings to a crucial win to even the series, instead of heading to Anaheim facing elimination.
Game 5 is scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. The win also guarantees a Game 6 back in Detroit, which will take place on Friday (time to be determined).
“Well the [home] game’s important, but more important is that it’s a best-of-three now,” coach Mike Babcock said. “The longer that you can put this off, the better and better our chances, so, as low as we were the other night, we’re high tonight, that’s the playoffs…it’s about will, it’s about determination, it’s about mental toughness. We have to go into their barn, and we’ve got to steal another game.”
Matt Beleskey opened up the scoring for the Ducks at the 5:07 mark of the first period. The Anaheim forward took advantage of a collision between Brendan Smith and Kyle Quincey near the Red Wings’ net, and scored on his own rebound for his second goal of the series.
The first period ended 1-0 in favor of the Ducks, despite the Red Wings leading 13-8 in shots.
The two squads played a scoreless second period, despite 14 shots from the Red Wings and seven from the Ducks.
Brendan Smith tied the game up for the Red Wings early in the third period, breaking a scoreless drought for Detroit that lasted for 101:18 worth of hockey. The defenseman fired a shot from the blue line and it got past Jonas Hiller after hitting a Ducks defender along the way.
Just past the halfway point of the third period, David Steckel buried a rebound on a play that saw Brian Lashoff bump into Howard, and possibly keep the Wings’ goaltender from getting to the shot.
Datsyuk tied the game for the Red Wings three minutes later, skating into the Ducks’ zone and firing a shot to the top left corner past Hiller for his first goal of the series.