Datsyuk, Athanasiou power Red Wings past Stars

DALLAS -- Pavel Datsyuk scored on the power play 2:33 into overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Monday.
Datsyuk roofed a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle off a rebound 42 seconds after Dallas forward Mattias Janmark was called for hooking.
"Pavel is an elite, elite player," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I don't care how old he is, he's an elite player in the League, one of the best in the League still today. He's unbelievably competitive, he wins pucks and he plays such a complete game. He's a special player."

Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals, and Jimmy Howard made 39 saves for the Red Wings (32-20-11), who have won three in a row and seven straight in Dallas.
"It was good," Howard said. "They're a highly skilled team throughout their lineup, and we were able to find a way to get the job done."

Athanasiou scored midway through the second period off a rebound and again early in the third period.
"He doesn't have speed; he has lightning," Datsyuk said of Athanasiou.
Dallas tied it 2-2 with 1:31 remaining when Vernon Fiddler, who had an assist in his 800th NHL game, scored on a rebound of his initial shot. Dallas had the extra attacker after Antti Niemi, who made 30 saves, left the ice with 2:10 remaining.
"We (the fourth line) get a little bit of opportunity to play," said Fiddler, who ended a 12-game goal drought. "We gave up one early, and we talked we wanted to get one back and we got one back right away. Obviously, we got an opportunity to play at the end and got a good bounce and got rewarded. It's been a couple tough months offensively for me, but you just try to work your hardest every night and hopefully get rewarded."
Colton Sceviour scored for Dallas (38-19-7), which lost its third in a row and fourth straight at home. He has three goals and an assist in the past four games.

"You've got to believe that if you're going to keep playing that way, you're going to put it in the back of the net," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I liked the way our team competed, liked the way they skated, didn't make a lot of mistakes. Managed the puck pretty well most of the game. That's a game you should win."
The best chance for either team in a scoreless first period came with 2:20 left when Stars defenseman Jason Demers hit the left goal post.
Howard made a save on Ales Hemsky on a breakaway 9:37 into the second period.
"He's an excellent player," Datsyuk said of Howard. "He played well in the last game he played. He got the chance today and on the road he played well. He gave us lots of saves and kept us in the game."
Athanasiou scored his first of the game at 11:50 of the second, knocking in a rebound after Niemi turned away the initial shot by Gustav Nyquist.

"Me, [Tatar] and [Nyquist] had a great line rush there," Athanasiou said. "I found [Nyquist] coming in late and he had a man on him. I don't know how he funneled that puck to the net, but he got it through. [Tatar] was right there in the crease causing havoc. It just popped out to me and kind of shot it. I think it went off him [Tatar] and in, but little bit of a lucky one."
Sceviour tied it 1-1 with 2:28 remaining in the second when Fiddler's pass deflected in off Sceviour's right shin for his eighth goal. It was upheld after video review determined Sceviour did not use a distinct kicking motion to score.
"It's obviously tough when you've played some good hockey and haven't fully gotten the results," Sceviour said. "Our game as a team has been better the last two nights, and we've been in them. We've just now got to be comfortable in those games and find a way to win them."
Athanasiou scored his second of the game, of the highlight-reel variety, when he displayed some deft puck-handling to outmaneuver Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya before finishing the sequence with a backhand 6:38 into the third period to put Detroit ahead 2-1.
The goal, Athanasiou's fourth of the season, came seconds after Patrick Sharp missed wide right of the Detroit goal, creating a rush opportunity for the visitors.

"Well, the one thing [Athanasiou] can really do, he can separate himself with speed. You either separate yourself with speed or you separate yourself with strength, and he does it with his speed," Blashill said. "It's hard on goalies, it's hard on defensemen when he's attacking with that level of speed. I thought he was feeling it tonight. We tried to get him on the ice as much as we could."
Stars forward Jamie Benn nearly tied it at 8:51 of the third, but his wrist shot from the left circle went off the crossbar.
"Right now, we don't have an ounce of puck luck going on," Ruff said. "We can't get anything to redirect, hit crossbars, posts. Jamie and Tyler [Seguin] dominated the game and couldn't get one in the back of the net."
Despite ending their three-game homestand without a win (0-2-1), Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski took something positive from the overtime loss.
"We're down in the game with two minutes left, so from that perspective, it's a good point," he said. "You'd like to get the two, but it's kind of big picture too. We want to keep playing consistent hockey whether we're up a goal, down a goal, grinding teams down. The last couple games, we've been a lot better at that."