Antti Niemi made 33 saves as the San Jose Sharks held on for a 2-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon at HP Pavilion.
The victory in Game 2 gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinal series. Both teams will receive two days of rest before Wednesday's Game 3 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Niklas Wallin's goal 1:39 into the third period, just his fourth in 83 career postseason games and first during regulation time, gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead and turned out to be the winner. Ian White scored on the power play for the Sharks early in the first period.
Henrik Zetterberg's first goal of the postseason pulled the Red Wings within a goal with 6:02 remaining in the third period. But Niemi was perfect the rest of the way and has allowed just two goals on 59 shots in the series.
"That doesn't surprise me or anyone in our organization," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of Niemi's performance. "We've come to expect that from him. I think maybe because of his numbers in the first series (Niemi was lifted twice against Los Angeles) -- not we, but people outside our locker room got a little panicky. He's a solid goaltender who's played extremely well.
"We needed him -- in six of the first 10 minutes we were shorthanded. The momentum swing there, the ability to play with a lead later on, that was due to his ability to stop the puck during the penalty kill."
Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard made his second straight solid start, but again had nothing to show for it. After making 44 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 1, he made 35 saves in Game 2.
The Sharks' power play that was dormant in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings (2-for-23) now has two goals in two games in this series.
The Sharks are 10-2 against the Red Wings in their last 12 meetings as they head to Detroit.
"The bottom line is that we came to their building and they were able to win two games," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought they were better than us (Friday) night; I thought this game was more even.
"Now we're going home. We've got our crowd, and we've got to do something with it."
After the Sharks killed a penalty to Ryane Clowe for roughing early in the first period, they were awarded a power play when Logan Couture was clipped in the face by the stick of Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader (the 1st player alphabetically in the NHL). White cashed in the opportunity with a straightaway 40-foot blast through a screen that Howard never saw. It was White's first career playoff goal and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 4:54.
Niemi had his most active period of the series, stopping 12 shots. The Red Wings were 0-for-3 on the power play in the period, but had a 9-3 edge in shots during 5-on-5 action.
The Red Wings had their first dangerous scoring chance of the second period while killing a penalty in the first three minutes. Darren Helm stripped Jason Demers of the puck at the blue line and took off on a clear-cut breakaway. Helm tried to go five-hole, but Niemi squeezed the pads to keep the Sharks ahead by a goal.
Howard answered with a great save of his own later in the period while the Red Wings were killing yet another penalty. A shot from the point fell at the feet of Patrick Marleau, who didn't track the puck quickly. He eventually saw it at his skates and whacked a shot toward the net, but Howard sprawled and made the save with his chest and face.
Not long after, Howard came up with another big save off a redirection by Dany Heatley, sliding his right pad along the ice to stop the deflection.
The Sharks again came within inches of scoring during the second after a great move by defenseman Douglas Murray, who spun away from Pavel Datsyuk in the corner for a backhand shot in front of the net. Howard made the first save, but a second shot squeezed through him and toward the goal line. However, Datsyuk recovered in time to sweep the puck out of the crease.
The first two periods were reminiscent of what took place in Game 1. After the Red Wings had more control in the first period, the Sharks responded to dominate the second, leading 19-9 in shots. In Game 1, the Sharks outshot the Red Wings 18-9 during the second period.
Including Game 1's overtime, the Sharks are outshooting the Red Wings 44-19 when the teams have to cover a greater distance to complete line changes.
"They were better both nights than us in the second period," Babcock said. "They've been harder (on the puck) for longer in the second period."
Wallin's goal came off a rush down the right wing, a rare sight from the historically defensive defenseman. He snapped a wrist shot that appeared to glance off the mask and catching glove of Howard and fell into the net at 1:39.
A slashing penalty on Devin Setoguchi with 6:38 remaining in the third period led to Zetterberg's power-play goal 36 seconds later. His shot from the slot was set up by a pass from Datsyuk, setting up a tense final six minutes of the third period. Lidstrom nearly tied it with just over two minutes remaining, but his shot hit the short-side post.
"At the end of the day, the two teams are pretty darn even," said McLellan, an assistant under Babcock before joining the Sharks following the Wings' run to the Cup in 2008. "I think you're going to continue to see this -- it's going to be a bounce or a break that goes one way. But if anybody should let their guard down, whether it's us or them, the other team is going to make them pay."
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