Howard’s 21 saves spoils Yzerman’s return

By Michael Caples –

DETROIT – Steve Yzerman was welcomed back to Joe Louis Arena with a video tribute, plenty of signs and fans donning his jersey, and a standing ovation from the crowd.

He was also welcomed back with a loss.

The Red Wings spoiled Yzerman’s homecoming, beating his new team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, by a score of 4-2.

Yzerman’s former teammate Pavel Datsyuk led the way with a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, but Jimmy Howard’s performance in the closing minutes preserved the home team’s lead.

“It was just being patient,” Howard said after the game. “I gave up a backdoor goal there late in the second, and I didn’t want to do that one again, so I played a little bit deeper than I would like in the last couple minutes there, and just gave myself a chance to make every save.”

Howard made 21 saves – nine in the third period – to earn his 14^th win of the season. None of the saves were as big, however, as the stop he had on Matt Gilroy. The Wings were in the midst a four-minute power play with four minutes left in game when a series of collisions in the neutral zone led to a breakaway for Gilroy. The Lightning defenseman tried to beat Howard to the top corner, but the Wings’ goaltender snapped the puck out of the air with a highlight-reel glove save.

Captain Nicklas Lidstrom was once again impressed in his goaltender’s performance.

“He played great for us,” Lidstrom said. “He made a great save at the end, they had that breakaway for us, and he came up big. I thought he was stellar the whole game.”

Datsyuk opened the scoring five minutes into the contest, firing a shot from the slot off a deflected pass from Todd Bertuzzi.

Jonathan Ericsson increased the Wings’ lead to two with his first goal of the season, a quick snap shot from between the circles that fooled Tampa goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

However, second-period goals from Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos tied the contest. Stamkos’ goal, a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle, tied it up with 14 seconds left in the middle period.

The Wings responded with a deflection goal by Tomas Holmstrom and a wrister from Darren Helm to seize control of the game in the third.

“We started the game real well in the first period,” Lidstrom said. “They were coming after us a little bit more in the second period, they were down a couple goals and they scored one on the power play to get themselves back into it. They got one late in the second period, and I think that gave them some momentum, but it was good to see the way the team responded in the third, getting one on the power play and being able to shut them down at the end.”