EDMONTON, Alberta – The last thing the struggling Edmonton Oilers can afford is to give away a game.
That is just what they did in the closing seconds against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Benoit Pouliot took a four-minute spearing penalty late in the tie game, and the Red Wings scored a pair
of power-play goals to pull away for a 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday night.  
"Pretty stupid," Pouliot said of his penalty. "Mostly I just feel bad for the guys because
we played hard, we battled back and then I go do something so stupid like that. It’s unacceptable.  
"It’s a 2-2 game, Detroit in town, then I go do that with three minutes left. It’s just stupid. I
just lost it, I guess, and retaliated in a way that I shouldn’t have."
Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey agreed with Pouliot’s assessment of the penalty.  
"That wasn’t very smart," Quincey said. "We can thank him for that one. That was very
timely for us."
Pavel Datsyuk scored the tiebreaking goal with 34 seconds left to help the Red Wings earn their fourth
win in six games. Datsyuk also had an assist, and Justin Abdelkader added a goal and assist for Detroit.

Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal after Edmonton had tied it with 4:05
remaining. Quincey and Luke Glendening also scored for the Red Wings (21-10-9), who are 1-1 two games
into a six-game trip.
"On the road in a tight game like this, when you get an opportunity like that, you have to take
advantage of it," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We took our time, but it was nice
to finish it off in regulation."  
Jimmy Howard made 21 saves and earned his 11th consecutive win over Edmonton.
"That was good for us," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We had the puck for the
majority of the night, yet the game was 2-2. That’s just how the league is, night in and night out. You
have to find a way to win these one-goal type games."  
Jordan Eberle had both goals for the Oilers (9-23-9), who have lost 23 of 26. Viktor Fasth stopped 37
shots. Edmonton fell to 2-1-2 under the sole direction of interim head coach Todd Nelson.
"It’s one of those things that we have to learn from," Nelson said. "Viktor gave us a
chance to win, I thought he had a strong game. We got down short-handed and that goal, we put it into
our own net.
"Those things happen, but we have to learn from it and move on."
The Oilers made it 1-0 on a power play with 4:31 left in the opening frame. Jeff Petry fed Eberle in
front, and he lifted the puck into the top corner from an improbable angle to beat Howard, who had
robbed him earlier with a big save.
The Red Wings tied it with 9:16 remaining in the second as Quincey swooped in and got his own rebound
before chipping the puck past Fasth.  
Blue Jackets 4, Stars 2
Mark Letestu returned from an injury. Kevin Connauton was back in Dallas. Each of them had a big goal for
the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After the Stars pulled within one, Letestu clinched Columbus’ 4-2 victory Tuesday night with his fourth
goal on a 2-on-1 break with 2:58 to play. He had missed the previous 28 games because of a
groin/abdominal injury.
Connauton’s goal made it 3-0 at 3:57 of the second period. It was his first game against his former team
since the Blue Jackets claimed him on waivers on Nov. 18.
"It’s good for them. It’s good for the team," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "You
could see that the guys were happy when Kevin scored, and then Mark, the last goal, a big goal. You can
see what he adds to our team."
Connauton, who scored one goal in 44 games during his time with Dallas, has six in 18 games for the Blue
Jackets.
"It was nice and weird at the same time," the defenseman said of his return to Dallas.
"The fact we walked out of here with a win is a good feeling."
The Blue Jackets improved to 12-2-1 in the last 15 games, moving above at 18-17-3.