Red Wings 4, Islanders 3, OT

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -Once the Detroit Red Wings erased their big deficit, finishing off the New York Islanders came easy.

Henrik Zetterberg capped Detroit's rally by scoring at 2:57 of overtime and giving the Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Islanders on Tuesday night.

Detroit, which hasn't been shut out this season, trailed 3-0 at the start of the third period but quickly erased that deficit and set the stage for Zetterberg's winner.

Nicklas Lidstrom gloved down a deflected puck on a rush and passed it to Zetterberg, who had the entire left side of the net to fire his wrist shot into.

"We had a 2-on-3," Zetterberg said. "(Lidstrom) got me the puck, and I had an open net."

Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary also scored for Detroit, which got 16 saves from Dominik Hasek.

Mike Sillinger, Shawn Bates and Jason Blake had goals for the Islanders, who have points in four straight games (2-0-2). Just as they salvaged a point with a spirited comeback in an overtime loss at Atlanta last Friday, the Islanders gave one away on home ice.

"That's a point we hope doesn't cost us down the road," Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro said. "Those (first) two periods were something to build on. We didn't forecheck hard in the third period."

DiPietro stopped 31 shots.

The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 lead on their opening shift when Sillinger put in the rebound of his shot at 22 seconds. They killed off four first-period penalties, including a double minor to defenseman Sean Hill. When the frame ended, the Islanders were sent off the ice with a standing ovation.

New York recorded only five shots in the second period, but two got by Hasek to make it 3-0.

While killing their fifth penalty, the Islanders doubled their lead at 7:44. Bates took a pass from Richard Park at his blue line, deked around a forward, and came in on a 2-on-1. Bates kept the puck and sent a slap shot from the top of the left circle that sailed over Hasek's shoulder.

Blake gave New York a 3-0 lead at 11:37. He made a strong defensive play in his zone, then stole the puck in the Detroit zone, moved to the high slot, and slapped a shot that squirted between Hasek's pads.

Detroit scored twice during a 1:33 span early in the third to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Kronwall's left-side screen shot on a power play at 3:24 broke DiPietro's shutout bid. Cleary, left uncovered at the right post, took Lidstrom's pass for an easy tap-in at 4:57.

"Once we got that first goal, we felt a lot better," Lidstrom said. "Getting a big win here like that is huge."

Holmstrom tied it 3-3 at 10:12 when he deflected Lidstrom's left-point screen slap shot while Detroit was on a power play.

The Red Wings were 2-7 on the power play, scoring on their last two attempts.

"You can only kill so many penalties before they capitalize," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said.

Hasek said it wasn't just the power play that helped Detroit in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

"We didn't make any turnovers and we played smart," Hasek said. "In the first two periods, we made turnovers and I didn't make saves."

Nolan saw the good and the bad in his team.

"In the first two periods, we played as good as we could," Nolan said. "In the third period, we played as bad as we could."

Notes: The Islanders are 19-0-2 when leading after two periods. ... New York D Tom Poti sat out with an upper-body injury. ... Sillinger is one point away from 600 in the NHL. ... Lidstrom needs one goal for 200. ... Detroit tied the Islanders 2-2 in its previous visit to Nassau Coliseum on Dec. 17, 2002.