SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -The Detroit Red Wings gave their traveling dads plenty to cheer about.
Kris Draper scored a short-handed goal, and Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom added power-play tallies in a penalty-filled second period that helped the Detroit Red Wings open their annual father-son road trip with a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
"It was a special game because you have the fathers here," said Dominik Hasek, who made 15 saves to get the win. "You want to give them something to cheer. You don't want to be here the next two or three days and listen to them complain that we lost the first game. It's a very special trip and you want to do something extra for the fathers or my son in my case."
While Hasek's son Michael joined him, most of the players brought their fathers along for the three-game trip to California. This is the third year the Red Wings have had this event, which has quickly become a popular tradition.
The fathers participated in the pregame team meeting, which included a video with old interviews of some of the players talking about their fathers.
"It's outstanding," coach Mike Babcock said. "We had a real good tribute before the game to the dads. It was excellent. ... We're thrilled to have them here and they should have a great time."
Niklas Kronvall, Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary also scored for the NHL-leading Red Wings, who have won back-to-back games following a rare three-game losing streak.
It was another rough night in front of the home crowd for the Sharks, who have won just nine of 24 games at HP Pavilion this season. San Jose managed just one shot in the opening period, allowed four goals in the second and barely threatened in the third. San Jose has lost a season-worst four straight games.
That's been somewhat typical when these teams have met of late. The Sharks were less than a minute away from taking a 3-1 series lead over the Wings in the second round last May, before blowing the game and losing the final three games of the series.
Detroit has won all three meetings this season and has outscored San Jose 23-7 starting with Robert Lang's game-tying goal with 33.1 seconds left in regulation of Game 4 last year.
There were eight power-play chances in the second period, including one stretch when San Jose had three players in the penalty box after Torrey Mitchell was called for a high-sticking penalty during a 5-on-3 power play for the Red Wings.
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| Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek makes one of his classic, sprawling saves on the Sharks Jeremy Roenick during the third period of Detroit's 6-3 win at San Jose on Saturday. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) |
Holmstrom deflected Brian Rafalski's shot from the point past Evgeni Nabokov 11 seconds after that penalty, giving the Red Wings a 5-2 lead.
"We have to stay more disciplined against them," Nabokov said. "We have to find a way to win and be more competitive against them."
After Draper's short-handed goal 1:26 into the second period made it 2-0, the Sharks controlled the play for a stretch.
Rookie Devin Setoguchi, who was recalled from the minors Friday, deflected in a shot from Sandis Ozolinsh on the power play to get the Sharks on the board less than a minute after Draper's goal. Jonathan Cheechoo then tied it on the power play with just his seventh goal of the season and the Sharks threatened to take the lead.
But Kronvall put Detroit back on top midway through the second when Ozolinsh deflected his centering pass into the net. Detroit added the two power-play goals from Lidstrom and Holmstrom.
"When they tied it up, they kept coming pretty hard," said Lidstrom, who added two assists. "Once we got that goal I think that settled them down a little bit and got them back on their heels. It gave us a boost."
Nabokov had his third straight poor performance since getting his first game of the year last Sunday in Anaheim. Nabokov, who started the first 43 games this season, has allowed 15 goals in three losses since returning to the lineup.
The Sharks generated nothing in the opening period, taking more than 17 minutes to manage even a shot on goal - a bad angle shot from near the boards by Matt Carle with 2:53 remaining in the period.
"In the first period we didn't compete as hard as we needed to," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We stood around and watched them. ... We really didn't have a scoring chance."
Notes: The Sharks got all three of their goals on the power play, including a third-period score by Steve Bernier. ... San Jose C Curtis Brown left in the first period with a hand injury.
