Red Wings’ season comes to a close on Legwand’s goal

By Michael Caples –

David Legwand will always be a local hockey hero, after growing up in Detroit and starring for the Plymouth Whalers.

But right now, he’s probably not welcome in Hockeytown.

The first-ever draft pick of the Predators scored 13 seconds into the third period to give Nashville a 2-1 lead they would never reliniqush, and a lead that eventually would eliminate the Red Wings from the 2012 NHL playoffs.

For the first time since 2006, Detroit failed to advance to the second round of the postseason, losing their quarterfinals series four games to one.

Pekka Rinne continued to be a problem the Red Wings could not solve, as the Predators’ goaltender stopped 21 of 22 shots.

The Wings’ lone goal came from Jiri Hudler, who managed to knock a loose puck past Rinne off a centering pass from Henrik Zetterberg.

Jimmy Howard stopped 23 of the 25 shots he saw on the night.

Along with Legwand’s tally, Alexander Radulov scored an early goal for the Predators, giving them a lead 1:50 into the game.

With the loss, the Wings are the first team eliminated from the 2012 playoffs. That means summer begins for a team loaded with question marks, the biggest of which being captain Nicklas Lidstrom’s status for next year. The Wings’ leader is 41, and was hampered by a foot injury late in the season. He, along with Brad Stuart, Tomas Holmstrom, Jiri Hudler, and Ty Conklin, are now free agents.