Category: Red Wings
Posted by Dave Dye (The Detroit News) on Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 8:11 AMLilja gets in first fight
Defenseman Andreas Lilja became the first Red Wing other than Darren McCarty to get into a fight this season during Thursday's 4-3 victory at Edmonton.
Lilja and Sheldon Souray dropped the gloves with the Wings leading 3-0 late in the first period.
"He was in front of the net, I cross-checked him," Lilja explained. "We battled in front. He turned around and asked me if I wanted to fight. I said 'yeah.'"
Souray got the best of it for most of the bout, but Lilja (6-foot-3, 228 pounds) appeared to land a right hand before falling on top of the Oilers' 6-4, 233-pound defenseman as they fell to the ice.
... Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood hadn't played in a week since a 4-3 victory at Tampa Bay. Coach Mike Babcock didn't think Osgood looked good that night so he started backup Ty Conklin in the last two games.
Osgood was sharper early against the Oilers. He made 15 saves without allowing a goal as the Wings took a 3-0 lead after a period. The Oilers pumped 12 more shots at him in the third period, scoring twice. In all, Osgood made 31 saves.
The Oilers had lost 4-0 Monday in Detroit and, combined with Thursday's game, failed to score for a total of 99:19 against the Wings before starting a comeback bid that just fell short.
... The Wings are now 9-4 in one-goal games. That's 13-of-18 decided by a goal. They were 18-18 in one-goal games last season.
