DETROIT — On the theory that you can't stop what you can't see, the Detroit Red Wings fell back on a simple, well-worn plan to get under the skin of Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco last night.
They turned to Tomas Holmstrom, a.k.a. the Hitman, and Johan Franzen, known as the Mule, to crowd Turco, back into him and otherwise camp out in his goal crease whenever the opportunity arose — which came often during the opening game of the NHL's Western Conference final.
The Red Wings got five power-play chances in the first 30 minutes and made three of them count as they rolled to an easy 4-1 victory over the visiting Stars and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series, which will continue here tomorrow.
The first three Red Wings goals were scored in virtually identical fashion — with Turco getting a clear view of either Holmstrom or Franzen's backside.
Brian Rafalski of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with teammate Nicklas Lidstrom after scoring in the first period. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Holmstrom has done this for ages, better than almost anyone else in the NHL. Franzen is comparatively new to the act, although with a playoff-leading 12 goals, this is clearly his breakout time as an NHL pest.
Holmstrom and Franzen each scored once on a tip-in, and the other power-play goal came off Brian Rafalski's stick — a screened shot through traffic on an early two-man advantage that set the tone for the tightly called game.
"They didn't do anything we didn't expect as far as traffic or getting pucks through," said Turco, who wasn't happy with Holmstrom's presence in the crease on the pivotal third goal, which effectively put the game out of reach.
"We were told that we have the ability to move within the blue [ice in front of the net]. We like to have our hands out in front of us. I wasn't able to do that, because [Holmstrom] was coming backwards at us. It's not necessarily a penalty, but if you ask me, those ones should be waved off."
Valtteri Filppula scored the game's first even-strength goal 15 minutes 37 seconds into the second period on a well-executed three-man passing play to put matters well out of reach.
Brenden Morrow broke Chris Osgood's shutout attempt with 1:07 to go in the second period, scoring his eighth goal of the postseason.
Special teams have been a decisive factor in these playoffs, with nine of the 16 teams operating above 20-per-cent efficiency, something only four teams out of 30 managed in the regular season. Detroit was ninth of the nine, but its ability to crank up the power play was never really in doubt.
Franzen, who continues to have the hottest scoring hand in the playoffs, was asked whether he learned anything from watching fellow Swede Holmstrom over the years. Franzen smiled and said, "I got my own style."
He paused for effect before adding: "No, I try to play similar to him: Be close to the goalie and try to read what he's going to do and where is he looking, try to get an arm up [to screen him].
"When the pucks go in, the confidence comes. Plus, the shots have to be good from the defencemen. They've really been giving me good shots. It's easy for me to tip in on my forehand."
Stars head coach Dave Tippett didn't like the roughing penalty against rookie defenceman Mark Fistric that put his team down two men early in the game (he called it a "harsh" call). Like Turco, he also thought Holmstrom's goal should have been disallowed, but he didn't use either as an excuse in a game which Detroit dominated in every category.
"We have to get skating," Tippett said. "Before you can talk about tactics or anything else, we've got to get our legs moving. We did a lot of standing in that game tonight, and that's the bottom line.
"Whether it was fatigue or whatever the reason, we weren't at the level we needed to be at."
The refereeing tandem of Bill McCreary and Kevin Pollock signalled they were going to call it tight only 1:11 in, when Niklas Kronwall was flagged for hooking Loui Eriksson. The Red Wings killed that penalty without incident, the best save coming when Osgood blocked a Brad Richards backhander with his shoulder.
Mattias Norstrom was next in the penalty parade, dinged for hooking Filppula at 3:45. And when Fistric joined him 24 seconds later on a questionable roughing call, it was only a matter of time before Rafalski connected for the opening goal.
It stayed that way until Stars forward Toby Peterson went off for holding at the 13:56 mark, setting the stage for Franzen's goal, his fifth with the man advantage in these playoffs. This time, Kronwall was at the point, drifting backwards along the blueline until he found a shooting lane and putting a slap shot towards the net that Franzen redirected past Turco.
From that moment on, the Stars goaltender had to listen to endless chants of "Tur-cooooo, Tur-cooooo" from the less-than-capacity crowd, most of whom were decked out in red T-shirts handed out as part of a promotion for a local tire store. The shirts' caption read, Make 'em see Stars — which, on this night anyway, proved singularly prophetic.
"It looked like we lacked a little of the emotion or jump that we've been having in previous series," Turco said. "But this team's resiliency has been the biggest factor to be at this point in the playoffs.
"It's discouraging. With some of the calls, you see us not moving our feet on the penalties. They've got a great power play and some skill and they made some good plays. You're not always going to stop it but I know we'll be better in Game 2."
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