Ericsson's hot scoring touch gives Wings breathing room

Detroit — The puck was on Jonathan Ericsson's stick, and the Red Wings needed some breathing room.

There was not much room in general on the ice Saturday against the Islanders, a team atop the Metropolitan Division whom the Wings had not defeated in Detroit in a dozen seasons.

The Red Wings had managed a two-goal lead. But five minutes before the puck came to Ericsson, the Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky had cut it in half.

In fairly close-checking game, the outcome wavered on a fine edge.

A poor attempt at a clearing pass from behind the Islanders net resulted in Ericsson possessing the puck at the left point, right on the blue line. He stepped forward and let a shot go into a crowd of bodies in front of goalie Chad Johnson, and it was in.

The Wings exhaled.

They had a 3-1 lead in an important bounce-back game against a top team in the Eastern Conference. And for the first time in his career Ericsson had points in four consecutive games.

He had four goals, nine assists in 62 games in 2009-10. He had three goals, 12 assists in 74 games in 2010-11.

This season, in 50 games — with scoring punch on the back end at a premium for the Wings — he has three goals 10 assists, and appears poised for an impressive offensive season.

Ericsson says his season has been a bit up and down defensively. But his offense is up right now, and his goal Saturday was a big one, at an important moment.

He was asked if he was trying to do anything differently to spur offense.

"It's coincidences," he said. "I think we've just talked about trying to create more offense with the team. And one way of doing that, I guess, with every team so compressed down low, usually the tops are open.

"With that said, the D-men, when they get the puck, we have to make sure we get pucks through. And we haven't always done that. I think we've been doing a better job of that lately."

Bouncing back

The Wings were happy with the win against the Islanders, after a big loss against the Lightning.

Those teams have paced their respective divisions in the Eastern Conference for much of the season, and playing them both within three games of the all-star break made for a challenge.

One down. One up.

And it was important to rebound.

The Red Wings were far more satisfied, especially with their fortitude and discipline, in sticking with the designs and systems they like to play — although, they would still benefit from some tightening, including on their overly generous 10 giveaways.

But a big win, coming after a big loss, felt even bigger.

"I think it's a huge bounce-back game, especially to get two points against the Islanders," said Petr Mrazek, who demonstrated considerable resilience in standing up to one of the top offensive teams in the NHL, a day and a half after being pulled in Tampa.

"I think today, we had the bounces with us," Ericsson said. "It was good not to get two losses against the top teams."

As for not losing consecutive games in regulation all season, Mike Babcock said, "We're off to a good start. But, there's lots of hockey left."

Defensive duty

Felt like you did not see Pavel Datsyuk much Saturday?

He was busy.

Among other things, the Red Wings kept the Islanders' big scorers off the board, including John Tavares, who came in with 23 goals and 25 assists.

"Well, no room," Babcock said, of the strategy against Tavares, who came in with a four-game point streak, with three goals and four assists. "We talked about it coming in. Johnny's been on fire.

"Johnny's one of the best players in the league. His game's really evolved, his skating. I mean, he's always been a star, but now he's a real team guy. He's at a time in his career when he's done all the scoring he wants to do. Now, he wants to win games.

"We did our best to give him no room. We played (Pavel Datsyuk) head-to-head with him. Pav's a good player, and John's a good player."

Ice chips

Jonas Gustavsson was to start Saturday for the Grand Rapids Griffins, as he makes his way back from a shoulder injury suffered Nov. 5, against the Rangers, when he flopped to the ice with his catching glove extended attempting to stop an overtime winner.

… Babcock said he liked Alexey Marchenko's game Saturday, after the young, right-handed defenseman played in his first game of the season for the Wings: "He was steady. I thought he had some nervous shifts at first. But apart from that he was steady."

… Justin Abdelkader's next goal will be the 50th of his career.

gregg.krupa@detroitnews.com

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