Detroit forward Jiri Hudler scored two first-period goals Tuesday night as the Red Wings held off a late comeback attempt by the Dallas Stars for a 5-4 win.
Hudler’s linemates, Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg, each had three points on the night. Filppula had a goal and two assists while Zetterberg notched three assists.
Filppula opened the game’s scoring at 8:02 of the first period. After an Ian White shot from the blue line, Henrik Zetterberg sent the puck from the left side to Filppula on the far side of the crease, who settled it down and flung it into the open net.
Hudler’s first made it 2-0 with 2:54 left in the period, when a Zetterberg shot deflected off Hudler’s skate and past Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen.
Loui Eriksson got the Stars on the board just 50 seconds later, making a wide wraparound attempt through the right circle and into the slot to snap a shot past Red Wings’ netminder Jimmy Howard.
Hudler restored the Detroit two-goal lead with one minute left in the first. After rushing down the right wing, Zetterberg cut into the high slot and passed off to Filppula in the left circle. Filppula sent it back into the slot to Hudler, who was left uncovered for a wrister past Lehtonen.
Jamie Benn pulled Dallas to back within a goal at 1:04 of the second, beating Howard short-side from the goal line below the right circle.
Cory Emmerton returned the favor for the Red Wings at 3:51, putting a shot from below the left circle off Lehtonen and into the Dallas net.
Michael Ryder’s first of the night at 7:25 of the middle frame made it 4-3 Detroit. Ryder snapped a shot from the left wing boards that Howard got a piece of before it fluttered into the net.
With 8:14 left in the period, Johan Franzen gave the Red Wings their fourth two-goal lead of the night. Lehtonen went down early and gave Franzen only the top corners, and Franzen lifted a shot from the left faceoff dot into the far corner for a 5-3 lead.
Ryder’s second of the night rounded out the scoring with 5:53 remaining, as he flung a shot through a screen from the right circle past Howard.
Howard finished the night with 25 saves on 29 shots against. Lehtonen made 26 saves on 31 Detroit shots.
Dallas had the game’s only power play just fifteen seconds in. They were held scoreless.
The Red Wings continue their four-game road trip on Saturday when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
