By AJ Petronzi
In Play Magazine
The Detroit Red Wings managed a 5-2 win over the division rival Nashville Predators to climb only three points behind Nashville for the seventh spot in the Western Conference.
Pavel Datsyuk opened the score sheet tonight with a takeaway that quickly found its way to the back of the net. Tomas Holmstrom followed a few minutes later with a powerplay goal. In the second, Darren Helm scored a pair of goals, the second of which was shorthanded, to give Detroit a 4-0 lead. Nashville then had goals from J P Dumont and Joel Ward, before Henrik Zetterberg scored an empty net goal.
Detroit came out and played a very strong game after having been embarrassed against Vancouver on Wednesday. Detroit out shot, blocked more shots, and registered almost twice as many hits as the Predators. They also dominated the face-off circle, winning 71 percent of the draws. Nashville’s best player in the face-off circle tonight was Marcel Goc, who only won 44 percent of his draws.
In Play! Man of the Game: Darren Helm. Helm had two goals and was a force to be reckoned with on the penalty kill. Playing on the top penalty kill line, Helm helped Detroit hold Nashville to only two shots on four power plays.
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