Red Wings Down Predators for Game One Win

The Detroit Red Wings rode two third-period goals by Henrik Zetterberg to a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, giving them a 1-0 lead in their first-round playoff matchup.

A lucky bounce off of a linesman kept Nashville’s Shea Weber from clearing the puck early in the third period. Pavel Datsyuk recovered it and sent a cross-ice pass to Zetterberg for a one-timer past goalie Dan Ellis at 6:54.

Zetterberg would add an empty-net goal with 19 seconds remaining in the game, scoring on a shot from the neutral zone after a faceoff win by Kris Draper.

Johan Franzen scored the series-opening goal 5:58 into the game, grabbing the puck off of a missed clearing attempt by Radek Bonk and backhanding it over Ellis from the low slot.

Jordin Tootoo scored Nashville’s lone goal with 2:13 left in the second, tipping a Greg Zanon shot from the point through Dominik Hasek and into the net.

Hasek finished the night with 19 saves on 20 shots against while Ellis stopped 37 of 39 Detroit attempts.

Game Two of the series will be on Saturday afternoon from Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

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Nashville’s Scott Nichol left the game with an injury early in the second period.