DETROIT -- Whether the Detroit Red Wings’ marketing department will have an opportunity to produce another playoff song this season remains to be seen.

For now, Paul Simon's "Slip Slidin' Away" seems appropriate.



The Red Wings keep squandering third-period leads -- along with precious points.



The latest was particularly tough to take as the Phoenix Coyotes scored twice in the final 90 seconds of regulation and won, 5-4, on Shane Doan's goal at 3:50 of overtime Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena.



"You can't let off the gas in this league at all, and if you do, that's what happens," Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard said. "They just came at us, threw everything but the kitchen sink at us in the last couple minutes."



Their trouble began when Darren Helm was penalized for hooking with less than 2 minutes remaining. The Coyotes pulled goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for a six-on-four advantage and cut their deficit to 4-3 on Keith Yandle's second goal of the game.



Then, with Bryzgalov off again for the extra skater, Ed Jovanovski scored with 21.6 seconds to play to tie the game. The Red Wings won the defensive-zone faceoff, but Brad Stuart failed to clear the puck.



"Two guys are coming on Stewie and he's on his backhand and it's hard to get anything on it when you're going around the net on your backhand," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "(After) we win that faceoff and they get the puck back, we can still try to keep them on the outside better than we did."



Said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock: "It's unfortunate, we had won the draw on the tying goal and didn't execute. Thought we were going to the half-wall and Pav (Datsyuk) would be there to get it out. That never happened, never got it out. Then, they got a bounce when they threw it off Stewie's skate, came right out front and scored."



The freefall was complete after Helm turned the puck over in his own zone, leading to Doan's goal.



Detroit has blown third-period leads in four consecutive games and five of its past six. It has squandered two-goal leads in four of those games.



"The last while, even though we've given up some leads, I didn't think it was because we were getting outplayed," Babcock said. "But tonight, when we were ahead 4-2 with about five minutes left, we got a little tentative instead of going after them."



The collapse spoiled Lidstrom's big night. Heating up offensively after a slow start, he scored a pair of goals in the third period to put the Red Wings up 4-2.



Lidstrom snapped a 2-2 tie with 8:38 remaining on a nice give-and-go with Henrik Zetterberg. He then scored a power-play goal with 4:38 to play.



But in the end, instead of gaining two points on a club they're chasing in the Western Conference, the Red Wings lost ground to the Coyotes.



"Anyway you look at it, it's a tough loss," Babcock said. "We were in a great situation to get two points, and for them to get none, and in the end they end up with two and we end up with one.



"You got to do good things over a long period of time in games to earn confidence, and tonight, the last few minutes killed us."



After Datsyuk opened the scoring at 7:58 of the first period, the Coyotes got goals from Scottie Upshall (10:28 on the power play) and Yandle (12:07) in the second period. Patrick Eaves tied it at 2-2 just 11 seconds after Yandle scored.



The Red Wings built off the momentum from Eaves' goal but couldn't finish the job.



"We need these points real bad," Howard said. "We got to play with a little more desperation out there."



The Coyotes find themselves in an unfamiliar position six points ahead of Detroit. They have never finished ahead of the Red Wings since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996-97.



"They're a team that's coming. At the end of the day, they're going to make some noise," Jovanovski said. "That's why these two points are so big."

