Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk dominated all night long, leading the Red Wings to a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Zetterberg had two goals and two assists and Datsyuk had a goal and two assists as the Red Wings won their third straight. Dan Cleary and Patrick Eaves also scored for Detroit and Jimmy Howard made 25 saves.
Dany Heatley, Ryane Clowe and Benn Ferriero scored for San Jose. Antero Niittymaki made 24 saves.
Cleary opened the scoring in the first period, netting his team-leading 11th goal on the power play. Four minutes later, Datsyuk danced his way through three Shark defenders and buried his eighth goal past a sprawled Niittymaki for a 2-0 cushion.
The Sharks responded on the power play a minute and a half later when Heatley tipped in a shot past Howard.
The Red Wings regained the two goal cushion in the second period. Zetterberg swatted Brian Rafalski’s centering feed out of mid-air and into the net, moments after a tripping penalty to the Sharks’ Logan Couture expired.
Ferriero sliced the lead to 3-2 under two minutes later, bowling over Howard for a loose puck and sliding it in.
The Red Wings fought back at the end of the second period to once again go up by two goals. Eaves tipped in Cleary’s shot from the point on the power play with just 11 seconds left in the period to make it 4-2. The assist was Cleary’s 300th career point.
Zetterberg and Datsyuk gave Detroit a 5-2 advantage in the third on a spectacular passing play by the two star forwards. Datsyuk skated in front of the net to the right of Niittymaki, then slid a perfect backhander to Zetterberg who deposited it into a wide open net.
Clowe closed out the scoring with a breakaway tally that drew the Sharks within 5-3, but San Jose could get no closer.