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Grigorenko, Kopecky lift Wings in shootout win

Thursday, 09.27.2007 / 9:53 PM / News
By Bill Roose  - Managing Editor | DetroitRedWings.com

DETROIT – A Red Wings’ game was decided by a shootout for the first time in the preseason.

Tomas Kopecky and Igor Grigorenko scored shootout goals, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday night.

The Red Wings outscored Tampa Bay, 2-1, in the shootout. Veteran Jan Hlavac scored the Lightning’s lone shootout tally.

Igor Grigorenko beats Lightning goalie Marc Denis to give the Red Wings a 3-2 win in a preseason shootout on Thursday.
Participating in his first NHL training camp, Grigorenko's effort in the shootout was quite impressive. He deked Tampa Bay goalie Marc Denis, pulling the puck to his backhand before shifting to the forehand, and finishing with a wrist shot into the back of the net.

"Certainly there, it showed the offensive flare that he has, no doubt," said center Kris Draper of Grigorenko. "It's a little tough; there's a language barrier. It's his first time over here and his first NHL training camp. So, I think overall, he's done well. He's tried to learn. He's tried to fit in playing soccer with the guys and having fun with teammates in practice. But he's trying his best."

Kopecky got a bit of redemption with his shootout goal. He had an opportunity to end the game in overtime, but he ran out of room on the short side against Denis, who stymied the Wings’ forward. A few moments later, Denis came up big again when he deflected Brian Rafalski’s shot from the slot.

Chris Osgood stopped Michel Ouellet and Vaclav Prospal in the shootout. Osgood, who played the entire game, made 19 saves on 21 shots.

For the first time this preseason, many of the players who will make up the Red Wings’ regular-season roster – and those few still battling for a roster spot -- shared in must of the ice time Thursday night.

The Wings’ new defensive tandem of captain Nicklas Lidstrom and Rafalski also received plenty of ice together on Thursday. Both defensemen assisted on each of the Wings' goals in regulation.

Detroit scored a pair of power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead early in the second period. The Red Wings got the lone goal of the first period when forward Mattias Ritola scored his second goal of the preseason.

Ritola left the game when he was hit in the right side of the head with a puck shot by Lightning forward Mathieu Darche in the first period.

After Tampa Bay tied the game, Valtteri Filppula put the Red Wings up again when he re-directed a Lidstrom point-shot past Lightning goalie Johan Holmqvist at 5:28.

Trailing a couple of times, the Lightning rebounded to tie the score twice in the second period. Tampa Bay tied the game the first time when defenseman Matt Smaby at 2:58 of the period.

Following Filppula’s power-play goal, the Lightning knotted the score at 2-2 when left wing Michel Ouellet blasted a one-timer from the slot past Osgood with 1:16 left in the period.

The Red Wings dodged a scare when Rafalski left the game with seven-minutes left in regulation. The new Wings’ defenseman caught a rut with his left skate behind the Tampa Bay net. He skated off under his own power, and after being attended to by athletic trainer Piet Van Zant in the hallway outside of the team’s locker room, Rafalski returned to the bench.

Coach Mike Babcock indicated that the Wings will deploy three NHL forward lines in the final two tune-up games this weekend in a home-and-home series with Toronto.

"It's good. He's trying to get his four lines together and when you're playing three games in three nights it's a bit tough to do," Draper said. "I think those games will be a little bit more fun. Anytime Original Six teams get together they're more fun, so the next two nights should be a little more tense with a little more emotion."

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WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

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