By Michael Caples –
It took a whole lot longer than it normally does.
But Saturday evening in Dallas, Detroit clinched their spot in the NHL playoffs.
In the final game of the regular season, the Red Wings beat the Stars 3-0 to increase their playoff appearance streak to 22 straight seasons.
Captain Henrik Zetterberg – who took over the leadership role after Nick Lidstrom retired last summer – scored twice to lead the Red Wings to one of the most important wins in franchise history.
Jonathan Ericsson also scored for the Red Wings, while Jimmy Howard picked up his 21st win and fifth shutout of the season.
With the win, the Red Wings lock up the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, which means they will take on the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs. The series will start in Anaheim sometime early next week.
Zetterberg put the Red Wings on the board first when he scored his 10th goal of the season late in the opening period. After outmuscling a Dallas defenseman deep in the opposition’s end, Zetterberg tried to send a pass to Justin Abdelkader in front of the Stars’ goal. The puck hit Alex Goligoski’s skate instead, and bounced past goaltender Richard Bachman.
The two squads would play to a scoreless second period. Detroit led 26-13 in shots after two periods of play.
Zetterberg increased the Wings’ lead to two just 1:57 into the third period, when Pavel Datsyuk sprung him for a breakaway with an impressive pass. With a deke to the backhand, Zetterberg found a hole on Bachman, and slid the puck to the back of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
Five minutes later, Jonathan Ericsson fired a wrist shot through a crowd out front, and beat a screened Bachman for his third goal of the season.
The Wings held the Stars scoreless on two power-play opportunities.
Detroit and Anaheim met three times during the regular season, and neither team won at home. The Ducks came to Hockeytown on Feb. 15, and beat the Wings 5-2.
The two teams then played back-to-back games in Anaheim on March 22 and 24, with the Red Wings winning both road contests by scores of 5-1 and 2-1, respectively.