ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sunday was destined to be special for Detroit Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi because he was playing his 1,000th NHL game and his family was there to witness it.

Bertuzzi made it even more memorable by scoring the shootout goal that clinched a hard-fought 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

Having it happen in a building where he is booed every time he touches the puck was just a bonus.

“No better place to get the two points and also score,” Bertuzzi said. “It’s always a great atmosphere. Every time we come here, it’s always a good game with the fans.”

The Red Wings have won five consecutive games -- a season high. They were strong defensively and goaltender Jimmy Howard was sharp (25 saves). They pressured Minnesota’s defense and had several scoring chances against Niklas Backstrom (38 saves), who was outstanding.

“We did a lot of good things,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought both goaltenders were good. We had lots of opportunity. We hung in there. It was a tight-checking game. It was a good game for us to find a way to win. Obviously, it was great for Bert to score the goal at the end.”

The game was scoreless after 40 minutes. Nicklas Lidstrom (1:10) and Martin Havlat (4:50) traded goals in the third period, setting up overtime, which Minnesota survived despite some terrific chances by Detroit.

In the shootout, Pavel Datsyuk scored on the Red Wings’ first attempt, before Howard made glove saves against Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Matt Cullen, whose deke attempts failed.

That set up Bertuzzi’s moment in the spotlight. He slowly skated in on Backstrom and beat him with a backhand shot.

“I’ve been pretty confident in shootouts (2-for-5 this season), so I knew what I was going to do,” Bertuzzi said. “It was obviously nice to see a couple (shooters go) ahead of me so I could see how he was reacting. It was a pretty great feeling when it went in.

“I’m fortunate (the Red Wings) allowed my family (wife Julie, daughter Jaden, son Tag) to come and be a part of this.”

Bertuzzi’s teammates poured off the bench to congratulate him and NBC analyst Darren Pang, working between the benches, retrieved the puck for him.

“It’s something I’ll take back home, put in my new house when it’s finished,” Bertuzzi said.

Howard, who has played much better lately, recorded his league-leading 30th win. He has stopped 13-of-14 shootout attempts this season.

“In the shootout, he was sharp. He really held his ground, which is important,” Babcock said. “I always said to our goalies, if they deke you and it ends up in the back of the net, great, but just hold your ground, make them beat you, don’t just back in.”

Said Howard: “Just being patient and letting them make the first move and just moving with them. It’s been successful that way this year.”

Both clubs picked up the pace in the third period.

“It was a pretty fast, pretty intense game,” Minnesota coach Todd Richards said. “Detroit’s always impressive.”

Lidstrom scored on a shot from a few feet inside the blue line, using Danny Cleary as a screen, after taking a pass from Jiri Hudler (two goals, seven assists in his past seven games).

Havlat tied it on a breakaway, set up by a pass from Brent Burns following an offensive-zone turnover.

The Red Wings, playing their third game in four days on the road, found a way to win in a game that started earlier (11:45 a.m. locally) than either team is accustomed to playing, because of NBC.

“What a way to cap it off, with Bert playing his 1,000th game and then going out and ending it like that,” Red Wings forward Kris Draper said. “We got a good thing going. We’re playing well, we’re winning games.

“This is pretty early, being here at 9 o’clock and getting things going, but it’s a nice win. It’s a good two points and we just got to keep going.”