Osgood Stops 27 as Wings Defeat Stars

Detroit goalie Chris Osgood stopped 27 of 28 shots, including 12 of 13 in the first period, leading the Red Wings to a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars Tuesday night.

The Stars were the dominant team early, outshooting the Red Wings 13-8 in the first period. Osgood held Detroit in the game, though, and the period ended tied at one.

Mikael Samuelsson opened the game’s scoring on just Detroit’s third shot. At 8:34 of the period, Henrik Zetterberg picked off a pass along the boards by Dallas netminder Marty Turco. He centered the puck from the right circle to Samuelsson, who tipped it into the net.

Dallas responded with 3:11 left in the period as Jaroslav Svoboda scored on a one-timer. After being hit into the end boards by Kirk Maltby, Niklas Hagman sent a pass from his knees to Svoboda in the right circle, where he was open to score.

Zetterberg’s second of three points on the night came as he scored at 4:14 of the second, tipping a pass from the right circle between Turco’s pads.

Tomas Holmstrom gave Detroit a two-goal lead at 8:34 of the second. A centering pass by Zetterberg was tipped by defenseman Brett Lebda before bouncing off Holmstrom and Turco and into the net.

Maltby finished the game’s scoring with an empty net goal, skating in all alone from the Detroit blue line.

Turco finished the game with 19 saves on 22 shots.

After Dallas outshot the Red Wings in the first period, the two teams were even on shooting for the remainder of the game.

Both teams were held scoreless on the power play, with Detroit getting three chances and the Stars having five opportunities with the man-advantage.

The Red Wings will be back in action on Saturday night in their annual New Years’ Eve game. This year they host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who they defeated in a shootout last week.

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Kirk Maltby missed several shifts after taking a stick to the face but did not leave the bench… The Stars lost forward Stu Barnes to a “lower-body injury” in the first period.