Mikael Samuelsson's goal 5:14 into overtime sent the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of their Western Conference final series from Joe Louis Arena.
Samuelsson started a rush off a giveaway by Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell, pushing the puck ahead through the neutral zone to Jiri Hudler. It quickly became a 3-on-1 as Valtteri Filppula joined on the right wing. Hudler dished to Filppula, who turned and fed back to Samuelsson for a bullet one-timer inside the left post.
Dan Cleary and Brian Rafalski also tallied for the Red Wings, who assumed a two-games-to-none series advantage.
Chris Osgood made 36 saves for his 10th win of this postseason.
Jonathan Toews posted both goals for the Blackhawks, who look for their first win in the series in Game 3 on Friday at United Center.
Nikolai Khabibulin was solid in the loss, stopping 35-of-38 shots.
The Hawks failed to convert a brief 5-on-3 advantage just after the midway point of the first period, but cashed in on the one-man power play with 7:11 to go.
Martin Havlat held the puck in the right circle, then found Toews along the goal line to the right of the Wings net. Toews attempted a cross-crease pass to Patrick Sharp, but the puck hit Osgood's pads and bounced in.
Detroit knotted the contest with 3:17 remaining in the first stanza. Pavel Datsyuk won a left-circle draw back to Nicklas Lidstrom, who dished back to Rafalski for a floating point shot which dodged a pair of Detroit players on its way past Khabibulin.
Play was spirited throughout the second period and Detroit outshot Chicago by a slim 9-6 margin and picked up the only goal in the middle 20 minutes. Cleary converted a breakaway, his third goal of the series and fourth in three games, with under six minutes remaining.
Both sides continued to trade close calls throughout the third period, before Toews forged a 2-2 deadlock, as he deftly redirected a low left-point shot from Kris Versteeg coming with 7:40 to play in regulation.
Game Notes
The game-winner was Samuelsson's first career playoff overtime tally...The Red Wings have allowed a power-play goal in 11 consecutive postseason games, a franchise record and longest streak since the Pittsburgh Penguins equalled the mark in 1989...Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook briefly left the game in the second period after being hit directly in the chest with a shot...Sharp also left the game but returned after hitting his upper back and head on the ice...Osgood improved to 10-3 in the 2009 playoffs, while Khabibulin slipped to 8-6.
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