Red Wings Outshine Stars To Lead Series 2-0

Detroit, MI (AHN) - Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg stepped up in the absence of top scorer Johan Franzen with each scoring goals to lift the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 over the Dallas Stars for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Detroit, which became the first NHL team to win seven straight playoff games at home since the 2003 New Jersey Devils, drew first blood following a successful stab by rookie Helm who beat Dallas goalie Marty Turco with a wrist shot at 5:56 in the first period.

The Stars went on to tie the score following a power play by defenseman Stephane Robidas at 10:41 of the first period, for his second goal of the post-season. Turco and the Stars were too eager to prevent a lurking Tomas Holmstrom from making a go-ahead basket, enabled Zetterberg to get in and blast a shot into the net as Turco tried to stop the winning shot.

But the game did not end just yet as Red Wings' goalie Chris Osgood got an after-the-buzzer slash across the chest from behind the net from Dallas No.1 center Mike Ribeiro following butting incident by Osgood earlier. The incident earned Ribeiro a 10-minute match penalty while Osgood was not penalized.

"If I did butt into him, it was an accident," Osgood, who went down in pain but due to soreness, told USATODAY. "I was more or less trying to protect our best player (defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom), making sure they didn't get a clean run at him with four seconds left."

On the other hand, Dallas coach Dave Tippett blamed Osgood for the incident after watching the replay and said Ribeiro had a reason for his actions.

On asked if Osgood should be suspended by the NHL, Tippett told the Associated Press: "That's for the higher powers to figure out."

The Stars has been limited to just 18 shots with just six coming in the final period, while Dallas goalie Turco drops to 0-9-2 in the NHL at the Joe Louis Arena following 32 saves.

Detroit's Osgood improves to 8-0 as a starter for the Red Wings in the playoffs this season.

Dallas hosts Game 3 on Monday with two players missing -Jere Lehtinen, who went out in Game 2 due a leg injury and possibly Ribeiro, depending on the outcome of the decision of the league's suspension judge Colin Campbell.