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DETROIT — Outside, on the Riverwalk that skirts Joe Louis Arena, the 2008 Downtown Hoedown was underway – a country music block party in the cradle of Motown. On the street-level apron just outside the building, the Dallas Stars' bus was greeted by the smells of Big Al's BBQ, a fund-raiser for the Detroit Red Wings' Foundation, featuring plenty of down-home cooking from the arena's executive chefs.
Motor City did its best to make the visitors from down Texas way feel right at home on Saturday night – until they stepped on the ice, that is.
There, it was the same sad story for Dallas.
The Red Wings scored twice in the opening period and then held on for a 2-1 win over visiting Dallas to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference final playoff series. Game 3 is set for Monday night in Dallas.
Even without left winger Johan Franzen, who was an 11th-hour injury scratch because of concussion-like symptoms, the Red Wings made it another miserable night for Stars' goaltender Marty Turco. Turco, who played his college hockey at the nearby University of Michigan, is now 0-9-2 lifetime at Joe Louis Arena. Turco keeps insisting there is no mental block playing near his old stomping grounds – and maybe there isn't.
But if Dallas has designs on winning this series, they'll need to win at least once on the road after frittering away another opportunity last night. On the plus side, the Stars were far more competitive than they were in the opener, a 4-1 loss, but many of the same old problems recurred.
Dallas was bad in the face-off circle in the opener; they were worse last night (16-39). Turco let his old adversary, Tomas Holmstrom, distract him in the opener; Holmstrom was just as much of a nag as ever – maybe even more, without Franzen there to spell him. Turco took a slashing penalty midway through the second period against Holmstrom; he also punched him at least twice, without getting called, his frustration getting the better of him.
“Despite being down a few there, we played good, a lot better,” said Turco, trying to find a ray of optimism, when the statistics suggest the end could be near. Detroit, leading 2-0 at home, is 15-1 in its last 16 playoff series.
But Turco insisted: “In this locker room, we have no doubt that we can win some hockey games at home. We had our chances. It certainly is disappointing to be down 0-2, but I like our chances when we go home. It's going to be a totally different atmosphere.”
The Red Wings' goals were scored by rookie Darren Helm and veteran Henrik Zetterberg. Helm, a Medicine Hat Tigers' grad, scored the first goal of his NHL career 5:56 into the opening period, a wrist shot from the left side that found its way past Turco's glove hand, after a slight redirect off Sergei Zubov's stick blade.
Stephane Robidas tied the game for Dallas about five minutes later on a power play, after the Red Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom took a delay of game penalty for accidentally flipping the puck out of play. Robidas scored one a one-timer, on a long cross-ice feed from centre Mike Ribiero.
However, the Red Wings got it back on their next power-play opportunity on Zetterberg's long shot from the point that Turco said did not glance off Mike Modano's stick, as replays indicated.
“I'd certainly like to make those saves and give us more of a chance,” said Turco. “It was a tough one, on the first one, getting nicked a little bit (by Sergei Zubov's stick). That's all it takes – off the post and in. On the second one, letting one go through you always leaves a sour taste in your mouth. I certainly felt a lot better in the second two periods tonight, to play my best hockey of the series so far. That'll just lead into the next game.”
The Stars managed only four official first-period shots, but that total was misleading and had more to do with their frequent misses as opposed to not generating enough scoring chances. Detroit doesn't break down defensively much, but once, on a rare four-on-one break, the Stars worked the puck around to the open man, Steve Ott, who then shot wide from point blank range. Later, the Stars' Niklas Hagman slipped behind the Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall, but missed the post with a forehand from in tight.
“We had some great chances in the first and second period to go ahead or tie the game and we came close,” said Stars' centre Mike Richards. “It's just killer instinct or bearing down a little more. Obviously, we've just got to find a way to win; it's not how many goals you get.”
Maybe so, but the Stars have only two goals thus far in the series. It's hard to win many games that way.
“They have a lot of guys back in the neutral zone,” said Richards. “Osgood handles the puck well; that negates a lot of the forecheck.
“They're known as this high-powered offensive team, but they thrive on having their guys back and creating turnovers. That's discipline on our part to keep with the game plan. We did a better job of that tonight. We had some good chances that we didn't even hit the net on. We've got to bear down a little more and find that.”
The Red Wings had a first-period goal disallowed when it was ruled that Zetterberg made an inadvertent hand-pass to Pavel Datsyuk just before Datsyuk buried a shot behind Turco.
“It was a high pace tonight,” said Zetterberg.
The Stars lost left winger Jere Lehtenin with what the team described as a leg injury. Lehtenin limped off the ice and played only nine seconds in the second period, before retiring for the night.
Lehtenin had eight points in 13 games for the Stars prior to the game. There was no immediate word as to his availability for Game 3, when the series shifts to Dallas.
Moments before puck drop, the Red Wings announced that Franzen, the NHL's leading playoff goal-scorer with 12, would not play as a result of “concussion-like” symptoms. Franzen has already been ruled out for Monday's third game of the series as well.
According to the Red Wings, Franzen has been experiencing recurring headaches since early in the previous series against the Colorado Avalanche. That makes Franzen's play in that series even more extraordinary – he scored nine goals in four games, an NHL playoff record. Franzen also scored the winning goal in Thursday night's 4-1 victory over the Stars in the series opener.
To replace Franzen in the line-up, the Red Wings restored Darren McCarty to the roster. However, it was Daniel Cleary that moved up the depth chart to play on the second line with Franzen's usual linemates, Valtteri Filppula and Mikael Samuelsson.
The Red Wings said that their medical staff recommended that Franzen be held out of the next two games for precautionary reasons and that he will not play until further testing and evaluation is completed. Franzen will remain in Detroit to undergo testing on Monday. The rest of the team is scheduled to travel to Dallas on Sunday.
Coach Mike Babcock said the Franzen diagnosis came as something of a surprise, even to the team.
“I mean, he practised yesterday and has been playing unbelievably. And he said, I've got a headache and it's worse than it's been. And then he said, I thought it was the altitude when I went to Colorado. I was joking around with him and said: I don't know [but] whatever wires are crossed, let's keep them crossed, let's keep it going. I didn't think anything of it. Then he went to see the doctor.
“It's not like he's dizzy or it's not like any of that. He's just got a headache.”
However, Babcock also indicated a player's health comes first.
“We've got to get him checked out by the experts to find out what's wrong or what's right and then we'll go from there. In the meantime, we've got to suck it up and find a way to win.”
