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Wings come back and down Sens
By TonyH | October 12, 2008
Late game heroics lift Wings over Sens 3-2
“If you don’t shoot, you don’t score,” Franzen said
OTTAWA (AP) -Johan Franzen got just enough on the puck to get it past Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber and get the Detroit Red Wings a win.
Franzen scored two goals in the third period to rally the Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Senators on Saturday night.
Franzen tied it at 2 with a goal off a quick transition 11:16 into the third before scoring the winner with 1:17 remaining. His second goal came on a shot from the right side that Gerber partially stopped, only to watch the puck trickle into the net inside the left post.
“If you don’t shoot, you don’t score,” Franzen said. “I saw it all the way and I saw that spin on it. It hit the top of his pad and kept that momentum and it went right by the post. It was a lucky one.”
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock enjoyed seing the late production from Franzen - nicknamed “Mule” by former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman. Franzen set a team record with 13 playoff goals last spring after scoring 15 goals in Detroit’s final 16 regular season games.
“I didn’t think the Mule was quite like he was in exhibition and the first two games, so I was really happy for him that he was able to snap some,” Babcock said. “The Mule’s gotta understand that the reason he’s so good is because he’s big and physical, so he’s got to be big and physical, and the rest of the stuff will come.”
Valteri Filppula also scored for the Red Wings, who lost 3-2 to Toronto in their home opener Thursday.
“It was a good game for us to find a way to win and it was important that we had to really work hard to do it,” Babcock said. “We need to find our work ethic and our passion again. It doesn’t carry over from year to year. You’ve got to find it again and I thought we took a good step here tonight.”
Nick Foligno scored an unassisted goal with 1:59 left in the second period to put Ottawa up 2-1.
Alexandre Picard also scored for the Senators, who lost their official home opener after claiming three of a possible four points (1-0-1) in its season-opening two-game series against Pittsburgh last weekend in Stockholm.
Source: Continue reading at NHL.com