Yzerman gets 1,000th assist in Wings' OT win over Sens
DETROIT -- Detroit's Steve Yzerman wasn't impressed with his milestone
point.
Yzerman collected his 1,000th assist on Mathieu Dandenault's
game-winning goal 59 seconds into overtime as the Red Wings beat the
Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
Yzerman became just the ninth player in NHL history to notch 1,000
assists.
"I look at it that I've played a long time on a good team with a lot of
good players and it's slowly added up," Yzerman said, "so I don't
really look at it as a real great achievement."
Yzerman had the puck along the boards and sent it to Igor Larionov, who
threw it at the net. Dandenault jammed the puck in from the right side.
Many of the Detroit players -- including Yzerman -- had already gone to
the dressing room but the referees reviewed the play before calling it
a goal.
"I was thinking, 'Don't do this to me,'" Dandenault said. "I don't get
that many."
It was Dandenault's sixth goal of the season.
"I can't say anything about that goal because I had no idea where that
puck was," Ottawa goaltender Jani Hurme said.
Martin Havlat scored both Ottawa goals.
He opened the scoring at 6:37 of the first period when he took the puck
around the net and fired the puck in off goaltender Dominik Hasek.
"He sort of surprised me because he has a very fast release and before
I got in the right position, he already shot the puck and scored a
goal," Hasek said of his fellow Czech Republic Olympic teammate.
Detroit rookie Pavel Datsyuk tied it at 11:25 of the first when he
collected his own rebound, circled behind the net and shot the puck off
an Ottawa player and past Hurme.
Havlat put Ottawa up 2-1 in the second when he beat Hasek through the
five-hole from the left side at 16:36 on the power play.
Luc Robitaille, who became the highest scoring left winger in history
on Friday, knocked a puck out of midair from the right side of the net,
tying the game 2-2 at 2:03 of the third period with his 612th career
goal.
"That's a good hockey club," Ottawa head coach Jacques Martin said.
"They have a lot of depth. It's a good point for us. We'll take it."
Hurme, playing Detroit for the first time in his career, made 36 saves
in the loss while Hasek had 20 saves to improve to 22-7-5 lifetime
against Ottawa.
"They are a very talented team, very solid defense," Hasek said. "I
knew them from Buffalo and I knew it was not going to be an easy game
for us. It feels good to win in overtime."
Notes: Detroit right winger Darren McCarty played in his 500th career
game. ... Ottawa defenseman Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup after
missing three games with a left shoulder injury. ... The Senators wore
their alternate black jerseys.