Detroit turns over a 21 at home
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Fans celebrate Detroit's historic win.
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DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings won an NHL-record 21st consecutive home game, beating the Dallas Stars, 3-1, Tuesday night.
Henrik Zetterberg and Brad Stuart scored midway through the first period for the Red Wings, who broke the mark of 20 set by the Boston Bruins in the 1929-30 season, and matched by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976.
Fans at Joe Louis Arena gave the team a standing ovation in the final minute and were chanting: "21! 21!" After the game, the Red Wings raised their sticks to acknowledge the cheering fans.
In the NHL's seven seasons with a shootout to eliminate tie games, Boston won 14 in a row at home in the 2008-09 season. That was the longest streak until Detroit's current run.
Joey MacDonald made 20 saves, filling in again for the injured Jimmy Howard, and was 32.8 seconds away from his third NHL shutout.
Adam Burish scored and Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 shots for the Stars.
The Red Wings' next two games are at home -- Friday against Nashville and Sunday, when they host San Jose. That will give them a chance to break another record by the Bruins.
Boston won 22 home games in a row, spanning two seasons. The Bruins closed the 1929-30 season with 20 victories at home, then won their first two home games the next season.
The NBA's longest home winning streak in a season is 37, set by Chicago during the 1995-96 season. The 1978 Pirates and 1988 Boston Red Sox both won 24 consecutive games at home for baseball's longest single-season, home-winning streaks since 1919. The Miami Dolphins won 27 in a row at home from 1971-74 for the NFL mark.
Detroit hopes it does not follow the path of the past two teams to win 20 in a row at home. The Bruins of eight-plus decades ago and the Flyers of nearly 36 years ago were defending Stanley Cup champions and went on to lose in the finals.
Tuesday night, Detroit essentially finished off Dallas in the first half of the opening period.
Zetterberg scored on the power play 7:57, and Stuart's wrist shot made it 2-0 only 1:18 later.
First Published February 15, 2012 12:00 am
