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DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions. They are the oldest team in the NHL. And they still lack discipline. Jason Williams scored a power-play goal with 6:19 left in regulation as the Red Wings rallied twice en route to a 3-3 tie with the Western Conference rival Dallas Stars. Although they have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the last decade, the Red Wings have struggled under new coach Dave Lewis, splitting their last six games (2-2-2) after a 4-2-0 start. Part of Detroit's problem has been its defense, which has allowed eight goals in the last two games and 36 this season - the fifth-worst total in the Western Conference. The aged Red Wings suffered a 5-2 loss in Ottawa on Saturday. "We have to be more disciplined and we have to commit to playing defense first and we will get our chances," defenseman Chris Chelios said. "Three goals is enough to win the game. Two goals should be enough to win the game." Ulf Dahlen scored twice for the Stars, who relinquished a pair of leads as their winless streak reached three games (0-1-1-1). Since their 5-2 win over Washington on October 20, they have gone 2-1-2-1, scoring 18 goals while allowing 17. "The effort is there, the will to win is there," coach Dave Tippett said. "That being said, we have to find ways to win close games. It is nice to say everything is good and you are close, but we want to win games, we don't want to be close." The Red Wings were close to winning in a thrilling overtime, but Sergei Fedorov shot wide on a partial breakaway with 4:23 to play and missed the net on a backhander from the slot with 47 seconds left. "Overtime was exciting for everyone," Lewis said. "We could have won the game a couple times in overtime. I thought it was a good game overall." The fans were treated to a little extracurricular activity as the teams met at center ice following Chelios' slashing penalty at the final horn. Detroit had seven of the nine shots in overtime, but Marty Turco stopped each of them and finished with 32 saves. Curtis Joseph was even better for the Red Wings, stopping 34 shots. "It's all the things you're looking for in a great hockey game," Tippett said. "We would have liked to get the two points tonight, but for the fans it was a good game." Williams brought the fans to their feet by scoring the equalizer, redirecting Brendan Shanahan's feed from the left corner past Turco from under the left hashmark for his second goal of the season. "It was a great pass from Shanny," said Williams, who had eight goals in 25 games last season. "Just tried to get myself in front of the net and I just got my stick on it." Dallas had scored consecutive goals to grab a 3-2 lead. Detroit native Mike Modano knocked home a redirection with eight seconds left in the second period to tie it, and Dahlen scored on the power play 7 1/2 minutes into the third. It was the second goal of the game for Dahlen, who is tied for the team lead with six after signing as a free agent in August. "We wanted to get the win after we got the lead in the third," he said. "Unfortunately, they got the power play and they have a good power play. They got their tying goal and we couldn't get another one." Dahlen had opened the scoring 5:49 into the first period, but defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom tied it on the power play 2:08 later and Datsyuk gave Detroit the lead 2:56 into the second. "I am very happy with the first period and the start of the second period," Lewis said. "We fumbled around a little bit in the latter part of the second period, but we came back and got a point." |
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