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 Hudler scored two goals, including the game-winner, against his
former team, helping the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win against the
Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Friday.
"It didn't feel like a special game," said Hudler, who signed with
Calgary as a free agent during the summer of 2012. "There's no hard
feelings, I have a lot of friends here. We're playing for our lives,
trying to get to the playoffs."
His first goal, with 6:50 left in the second period, broke a 2-2
tie.
Hudler scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle,
between the legs of defenseman Niklas Kronwall, that beat Howard
high on the long side. It came after Hudler carried the puck from
inside the blue line and was unchallenged when he got into the
circle.
Hudler's second goal, and 23rd of the season, was into an empty net
with 1:06 remaining.
Center Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist and center Matt Stajan
and left winger Mason Raymond also scored for Calgary. Defenseman
Dennis Wideman had two assists, and goalie Jonas Hiller stopped 33
shots.
"(Hiller) shut them down after the first two and we were
opportunistic on our chances," Stajan said.
Right winger Justin Abdelkader scored twice for Detroit. Left winger
Erik Cole had two assists for his first points as a Red Wing.
Goaltender Jimmy Howard made 19 saves.
"We had good chances tonight. Could we have been better? Absolutely
we could have been better," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We had
lots of play but in the end we didn't do it good enough, long
enough, and you got to give them credit. They found a way to win on
back to back nights (Calgary beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a
shootout on Thursday). They were better in the second half of the
game than we were."
Stajan tied it 6:05 into the second with his fifth goal. He beat
Howard with a slap shot from the top of the left circle to make it
2-2.
"I was hoping it got through his legs. He didn't see it," said
Stajan, who returned after missing five games for the birth of his
child. "I was lucky enough it hit the post and went in instead of
kicking out."
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Raymond scored 1:50 into the third period to make it 4-2. He beat
Howard from the left circle for his 12th goal.
The Flames blocked 21 shots.
"In our book. we gave up one chance in the third period. To do that
against a team that good really says something," Calgary coach Bob
Hartley said. "Our D blocked a lot of shots and we managed to
control their pressure."
Abdelkader gave Detroit a 2-0 lead less than nine minutes into the
game. He opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 3:05.
Abdelkader beat Hiller high to the glove (on his right hand) side.
Abdelkader was sprung on the breakaway by a one-time, headman pass
by center Henrik Zetterberg from the corner in the Red Wings zone.
Abdelkader's power-play goal at 8:12 made it 2-0. He tipped in
another pass from Zetterberg for Abdelkader's 16th goal.
Monahan's power-play goal with 9:33 left in the opening period put
Calgary on the board. He picked up a rebound, moved across the top
of the crease to put Howard out of position and put in a shot for
Monahan's 24th goal.
NOTES: Calgary C Matt Stajan returned after missing five games for
the birth of his child. ... Detroit was without RW Johan Franzen
(concussion), F Darren Helm (oblique) and D Alexey Marchenko
(oblique). ... The Flames were missing RW David Jones (lower body) D
Mark Giordano (arm), C Paul Byron (lower body) and D Ladislav Smid
(upper body). ... Calgary F Jiri Hudler is a former Red Wing. ... D
Marek Zidlicky and LW Erik Cole played their second game for the Red
Wings after being acquired at the NHL's trade deadline.
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