DETROIT - Henrik Zetterberg picked a good time to break out of his scoring slump.
Zetterberg had his second goal 1:04 into overtime, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 on Friday night to extend their first round series.
Detroit blew a two-goal lead in the last 3½ minutes of the third period, sending the team to a fourth overtime in a series for the first time in franchise history.
Emerson Etem and Bobby Ryan scored 51 seconds apart late in regulation to pull the Ducks into a 3-3 tie.
Zetterberg, who scored a go-ahead goal 6:19 into the third period, had a shot to win it with about a minute left. But his shot hit the right post and slid across the crease.
He found the back of the net with a slap shot from above the left circle to end the game and send the series back to California.
Second-seeded Anaheim will host seventh-seeded Detroit on Sunday night in the deciding game.
The Red Wings, in their 22nd consecutive postseason, have a chance to win their first series after being down 3-2 since the 2002 Western Conference finals. They beat Colorado then and went on to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Detroit’s Jimmy Howard made 34 saves, all in regulation, and Jonas Hiller stopped 25 shots.
Zetterberg’s first goal snapped a career-long, seven-game postseason skid - dating to last year’s first-round exit against Nashville - and was the 52nd of his career in the playoffs. He has an NHLhigh 50 goals in the playoffs since 2006.
Pavel Datsyuk netted the Red Wings’ first goal of the pressure-packed game and Justin Abdelkader created a two-goal cushion by scoring with 8:30 left in regulation.
Detroit looked like it got comfortable and it made some costly mistakes to spoil a chance to win in regulation.
Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula carried the puck behind Howard and passed it back to where Etem was the only one in a position to get it. Much to Howard’s surprise, the goalie wasn’t ready to slide over to make a save.
Ryan slammed a shot past Howard with 2:37 remaining to tie it.
Detroit was knocked out of the first round last year following five consecutive postseasons in which it advanced at least once, a run which includes winning an NHL title in 2008 and falling a win short of repeating the next year.
The Ducks are trying to earn a spot in the second round for the first time since 2009, when they were eliminated by the Red Wings in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.
Datsyuk put the Red Wings ahead with 1:12 left in the first period and Palmieri was credited with a tying goal in the second that went off a Detroit defenseman.
The Red Wings were given an opportunity to regain the lead when Palmieri was called for high-sticking in the final period, and they didn’t waste the opportunity.
Zetterberg’s slap shot from the top of the left circle sailed through the air and past teammate Johan Franzen, whose net-front presence made it tough for Hiller to stop it.
Detroit had an extra skater for a third time midway through the third period, leading to Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau screaming from the bench that his team had skated for 50 minutes without the home team being in the penalty box.
Soon after Anaheim killed the penalty, Abdelkader made it 3-1 with a goal from a sharp angle along the boards.
Abdelkader was productive in his return to the top line with Datsyuk and Zetterberg after serving a two-game suspension for hitting Toni Lydman’s head in Game 3.
MAPLE LEAFS 2, BRUINS 1
BOSTON - Tyler Bozak and Clarke MacArthur scored and James Reimer stopped 43 shots Friday night to help the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 and stay alive in their first-round playoff series.
Game 6 is Sunday in Toronto, with the decisive seventh game back in Boston on Monday, if necessary.
Boston has won both games in Toronto in the series and has not lost on the Leafs’ home ice in the playoffs since 1959.
Zdeno Chara scored for Boston to cut the deficit to it 2-1 with 8:48 left. The Leafs killed off a delay-of-game penalty in the last four minutes and then protected the lead when the Bruins pulled Tuukka Rask for an extra attacker with 1:11 left.
Rask made 31 saves.
Only once in their history have the Leafs come back to win a playoff series after falling behind 3-1: In the 1942 Stanley Cup finals, when Toronto won four consecutive to take the title after losing the first three games against Detroit. The Bruins are 15-2 in playoff series after taking a 3-1 lead, but they blew a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.
CAPITALS 2, RANGERS 1 OT
WASHINGTON - Mike Ribeiro scored 9:24 into overtime Friday, and the Washington Capitals regained the momentum - and the lead - in their first-round playoff series with a win over the New York Rangers.
Ribeiro put in the puck after Troy Brouwer deflected a shot from the blue line.
The Capitals lead the series 3-2. Game 6 is Sunday in New York.
The home team has won every game in the series, with Washington taking the first two and New York pulling even in Games 3 and 4. The Capitals have been fighting history along the way: The franchise has lost eight playoff series in which it has held a two-game lead.
Brian Boyle scored for New York in the first minute, but that was it for New York’s offense. Joel Ward tied it in the second period.
At a glance NHL PLAYOFFS
FIRST ROUND
Best-of-7 x-if necessary
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Toronto 2, Boston 1 Boston leads series 3-2
Washington 2, NY Rangers 1, OT Washington leads series 3-2
Detroit 4, Anaheim 3, OT Series tied 3-3
Los Angeles 2, St. Louis 1 Los Angeles wins series 4-2
TODAY’S GAME All times Central
Pittsburgh at NY Islanders, 6 p.m. Pittsburgh leads series 3-2
Sports, Pages 25 on 05/11/2013