Red Wings rally to beat Oilers in OT

Pavel Datsyuk spoiled the Edmonton Oilers' homecoming.

Datsyuk capped Detroit's rally from a two-goal deficit with a spectacular goal 3:39 into overtime, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 victory in the Oilers' first game at Rexall Place in nearly three weeks.

Datsyuk took a pass from Johan Franzen as he approached the Edmonton blue line and made a couple of fakes to undress defenseman Jeff Petry before whipping a wrister from the left of the slot past Devan Dubnyk for his ninth goal of the season and first in 11 games.

The win, just the fourth for Detroit in 12 road games this season, evened the Wings' record on their Western Canada trip at 1-1-0. They visit Vancouver on Saturday.

"We're having a tough time on the road," Datsyuk said, "but now I hope we're unstoppable like a red machine."

Detroit jumped to fifth in the Western Conference with 31 points and improved to 18-1-7 in its last 26 games against the Oilers, who are 13th with 26. The Red Wings swept the three-game season series.

Detroit's rally also spoiled the night for the Oilers, who were playing their first game at Rexall Place since Feb. 23 after going 3-4-2 on a franchise-record nine-game road trip. It was the Oilers' 12th straight loss when returning home after a road trip of two or more games -- and it came after they were almost flawless through the first 40 minutes.

"We played with a lot of intensity in the first and second periods, but in the third we just sat back," said Edmonton forward Taylor Hall, who opened the scoring. "We can't do that."

The Red Wings trailed 2-0 after two periods, but finally beat Dubnyk 4:27 into the third period on a backhander from the slot by Valtteri Filppula. Kronwall then got credit for the tying goal with 5:53 left in regulation when his power-play shot was blocked in the slot and Petry accidentally shot the carom into his own net while trying to clear the puck.

"It was bad luck for him, but we'll take all the luck we can get," Filppula said, "and Pav finished it off with a really nice goal. He does things with the puck that a lot of guys can't do, plus he plays really hard both ways.

It wasn't a night Petry will remember fondly.

"It doesn't feel good now, but I can't hang my head. Tomorrow is a new day and we've got Nashville on Sunday," the young defenseman said.

The Oilers outshot Detroit 26-14 through 40 minutes, but were outshot 12-6 in the third period and 2-0 in overtime.

"The breakdowns that led to their goals were out of character when you look at how well we played up to that point," he said.

He also absolved Petry of the blame for the loss.

"It's a tough one for Jeff," he said, "but it's the team that takes responsibility, not the individual."

The Oilers opened the scoring 3:34 into the game on a spectacular individual effort by Hall. The first player taken in the 2010 NHL Draft took a pass from Shawn Horcoff near the left boards in the neutral zone, cut to the middle as he crossed the blue line and stepped between four defenders before beating Jimmy Howard from the slot for his sixth of the season.

Edmonton's Mike Brown and Detroit's Jordin Tootoo, who fought eight days earlier during the Red Wings' 3-0 victory at Joe Louis Arena, went at it again with 8:17 remaining in the middle period. Both players landed some solid blows before they were ushered off the ice to serve five-minute majors.

The Oilers made it 2-0 with 3:42 remaining in the period when Sam Gagner tapped in a rebound in the crease. Hall held off defenseman Jonathan Ericsson behind the net and slid the puck to Nail Yakupov, who circled from the left wall to the slot and fired. Howard stopped that shot, but Gagner got a piece of the rebound and tapped it home for his 11th of the season.

But the Wings regrouped and took control of the game in the final 20 minutes and the overtime.

"We dug in," coach Mike Babcock said. "I don't think we competed enough through two periods. We really got going and took it to them in the third period."

Detroit finally beat Dubnyk after Henrik Zetterberg freed the puck behind the Edmonton net, Filppula picked it up, circled into the slot and lifted a backhander over Dubnyk's shoulder for his sixth of the season and second in as many games since returning after missing seven games with an injury.

Kronwall's gift goal tied the game before another Datsyukian deke won it.

"I don't think that's the recipe for success," Babcock said of the comeback, "but I think our guys really dug in and got competitive"

Babcock said the Wings will fly to Vancouver without defenseman Kyle Quincey, who was hit in the cheek with a puck during the game. He said they didn't want Quincey to fly in case his jaw or cheek is broken.

Material from team media was used in this report