DETROIT _ Nothing like meeting a familiar old rival for inspiration.
The Detroit Red Wings fought, hit and scored Friday as they hosted the Chicago Blackhawks for the last time at Joe Louis Arena, the atmosphere invigorated by an enthusiastic bipartisan crowd. Tomas Tatar scored twice to ensure the home fans would be the ones celebrating a 4-2 victory.
Xavier Ouellet, Andreas Athanasiou and Tatar provided goals and Jimmy Howard had made 15 saves to provide a 3-2 lead after two periods.
There was a good deal of back-and-forth in the third period as the Wings tried for an insurance goal and the Blackhawks for a tying one. Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg were denied on slap shots during a power play. Howard stopped Nick Schmaltz on a net-front attempt, and next stymied Artem Anisimov and Brent Seabrook.
Tatar cushioned the score with 4:29 left in regulation when he went to the slot and scored his 17th goal of the season when he finished a pass from Zetterberg. Tatar and Gustav Nyquist each had three points, and Zetterberg had two assists.
Howard started for the Wings for the first time since spraining a knee Dec. 20 at Tampa Bay. He played Tuesday in the minors, and didn't go on the ice again until Friday morning as there was no practice Wednesday and Thursday.
He allowed a goal on Chicago's first shot of the game, but in fairness, it was a heck of a goal. Patrick Kane carried the puck up the right side before eluding Mike Green and sending a backhand pass across the slot for Artemi Panarin to finish. It marked the fourth straight time the Wings have given up the first goal.
A power play saw both Dylan Larkin and Riley Sheahan shoot wide. Larkin next made a play back to Ouellet on the left point; Ouellet's rebound was picked up by Darren Helm, but Helm backhanded the puck right into Corey Crawford.
With 5 minutes to play in the period, Justin Abdelkader pounded Trevor van Riemsdyk into the glass, leading to a fight. A minute later the Wings had the goal they deserved, when Ouellet sent a shot through traffic from the top of the left circle. The Wings took the lead with 8 seconds to play. Tatar carried the puck into Chicago's zone, passed off to Nick Jensen, who sent a short pass to Athanasiou, who threw the puck on net as Tatar leaped into the paint for the distraction.
Howard contributed three saves during a penalty kill early in the second period, which also saw Helm test Crawford. Crawford made a big stop in Tatar after he threw a shot on net along the goal line. When Howard denied Richard Panik on a backhand midway through the period, it was Blackhawks first shot on net since their power play. When they got a second power play at 10:45 of the second period, Howard only had to make one save.
The Wings got it to 3-1 at 15:17 of the second period. Gustav Nyquist picked off Kane and drove towards the net before dropping a pass for Zetterberg. Crawford got a piece of that shot, but Tatar turned the rebound into his 16th goal of the season. Van Riemsdyk made it a one-goal game with 44.3 seconds left when he scored on Howard while he was screened.
