The Dominator has the Wild's number ... and it's risen to 12

You can walk into a lot of hockey locker rooms for a lot of years and never get over the odd feeling of seeing a goalie without his pads. It's like seeing a turtle without its shell, or a starlet without her entourage.

Hockey goalies are generally wiry, built to rely more on fast-twitch sinew than brawn, and the Wings' estimable Dominik Hasek fits the profile.

Tuesday night at the X, The Dominator flung himself across the crease often enough to give the Wings a 3-2 overtime victory in a game in which the Wild felt proud and the Wings sheepish about their respective efforts.

After the game, Hasek waited at his locker just long enough to offer a few perfunctory words. Graying and skinny, with ice on his knees, he could have been a guy coming off the court at the Y after playing pickup basketball. On this night, he was the guy who stole a game for the best team in hockey against one of the hottest teams in hockey, improving his record to 12 unbeaten games in his career against the Wild.

"I mean, for 40 minutes, it wasn't exactly our hockey, but they played a smart game," Hasek said.

"But we started to win the battles in the third period and we started to shoot the puck more. We had a few chances and then, finally, one lucky goal. But, like I say, if you shoot the puck, sometimes you score lucky goals."

That was what Wild coach Jacques Lemaire was saying Tuesday morning.

The problem with shooting on Hasek is similar to the problem with playing the lottery: You have about the same chance of success whether you try or not.

The Wild got an opportunistic power-play goal from Brian Rolston and a beautiful open-ice slapshot from Pavol Demitra to take a 2-1 lead into the third period.

The Wild had just played what Lemaire described as the best two periods of the season. Even after losing, Lemaire said his team had played its best full game of the season.

And yet Detroit won, because Hasek kept it close for two periods before shutting down the Wild for good.

He stuffed Marian Gaborik on a second-period breakaway, and then on Gaborik's back door try seconds later. He made a big save in the overtime right before Detroit came back down the ice for the game-winner.

"He was awesome tonight. But you have to expect that."

Lemaire also thought goalie play was the difference, for both teams.

"I think [Hasek] was really good," Lemaire said. "We could have scored four or five goals there. He was outstanding at times."

And Wild goalie Nicklas Backstrom, who gave up a bad rebound for the Wings' first goal and a bad-angle goal to tie it with 1:20 left in the game?

"He wasn't controlling the rebound like he can," Lemaire said. "So that gives them more shots, there's no doubt."

"When we played in Detroit, we had to change, but this time he was playing better, there's no doubt," Lemaire said of Backstrom. "The last few games we played, he was good. So we felt we were fine with him. But I don't think this was his best game."

After the game, the Wild spoke of an encouraging loss, playing the NHL's best team close. Detroit's story sounded different.

The Wings spoke of leg weariness and playing poorly for two periods before doing what great teams do, and seizing the opportunity for victory when it finally presented itself.

"We weren't as good as we should have been through two periods," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Our goaltender gave us an opportunity."

All of those sprawling Hasek saves -- and a couple of misses by Eric Belanger on wide-open chances -- kept the Wings competitive until Brett Lebda scored the winner in overtime.