Red Wings 4, Oilers 2
Drew Miller snapped a tie midway through the third period as the Detroit Red Wings extended their home winning streak to 18 games with a 4-2 victory over the pesky Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Johan Franzen, Cory Emmerton and Henrik Zetterberg also scored while Justin Abdelkader added a pair of assists for Detroit, which improved to 21-2-1 at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings are two home wins away from tying the NHL record set by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and matched by the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers.
Sam Gagner continued his tremendous run by scoring both of Edmonton's goals. Gagner has collected eight tallies and seven assists during his five-game points streak.
Nikolai Khabibulin made the save on a shot by Abdelkader, but the puck remained loose in the crease behind him. Miller pounced on it and knocked it over the goal line at 10:46 to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead.
Zetterberg created breathing room four minutes later with his second goal in 24 games.
Franzen opened the scoring with 6:42 remaining in the first period as he tipped defenseman Ian White's blast from the blue line past Khabibulin during a power play. Emmerton scored on a rebound less than three minutes into the second to double Detroit's lead.
Gagner singlehandedly got Edmonton even, beating Joey MacDonald on a breakaway midway through the session before burying a rebound in the low slot during a man advantage 8:23 into the third. The 22-year old has scored eight goals in his last four games after recording just five in his first 42 contests this season.
Khabibulin made 26 saves for the Oilers, who have lost eight straight on the road.