Finally! That is probably what Chris Osgood was saying tonight in Colorado as Niklas Kronwall scored a power-play goal in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Avalanche. After Osgood conceded a goal with only two and a half minutes left in regulation, it looked like win No. 400 might have to wait again, but Kronwall's goal in overtime sealed Osgood's place in history as only the 10th goalie in the NHL to reach the 400-win plateau.
Amazingly, Osgood faced a whopping 49 shots tonight against the Avalanche. Detroit's defense wasn't exactly at its best, but Osgood stepped up and saved all but three of those shots. He didn't face any in overtime, but he made big saves throughout the night, keeping the Avs off the scoreboard for all but three times.
Colorado got on the board first tonight when Matt Duchene scored a goal only three and a half minutes into the game. Jiri Hudler answered with a power-play goal two minutes later to tie things up, but T.J. Galiardi gave the lead back to Colorado in the next minute. Johan Franzen again tied things up with another power-play goal for the Red Wings six minutes later, making the score 2-2.
After a scoreless second period, Nicklas Lidstrom broke the 2-2 tie with five and a half minutes left in the third period. Like all of the Red Wings' goals in this game, Lidstrom scored on a power play. Only three minutes later, however, Duchene added his second goal of the night for the Avalanche, also on a power play. The goal tied the game up at 3-3, and after no more goals in the final few minutes of regulation, the Red Wings and Avalanche were headed to overtime.
Early on in OT, the Red Wings got a great shift out of Henrik Zetterberg. Darren Helm followed that up with a great shift of his own, drawing a tripping penalty on goalie Peter Budaj. Just 40 seconds into the power play, Kronwall scored on a perfectly set up one-timer, getting assists from Zetterberg and Lidstrom.
This 4-3 victory is the Red Wings' second straight, as they beat the Wild on the road Sunday night as well. Detroit now heads to Dallas on Wednesday to close out this road trip. Detroit will look to distance itself from the Stars in the Western Conference standings, as Dallas is currently only three points back of the Red Wings.
Most importantly, the Red Wings can now stop worrying about Osgood getting to 400 wins. This has sort of been a monkey on the team's back for the last week or so, as Osgood failed to get to 400 wins on his first two tries. Now that he has accomplished that feat, the Red Wings can turn their focus back to strictly getting wins and maintaining their stranglehold on the Western Conference.