Red Wings Take Game Two without Franzen

Missing the NHL’s leading playoff scorer, Johan Franzen, the Detroit Red Wings still claimed victory over the Dallas Stars in Game Two of their Western Conference Finals matchup Saturday night, holding on for a 2-1 win.

Franzen was a late scratch from the game. The team revealed he had been experiencing concussion-like symptoms since early in the second round. He will be re-evaluated on Monday and miss Game Three in Dallas.

With Franzen shelved, the Red Wings got scoring from an unexpected source, as fourth-line rookie Darren Helm got the game’s first goal.

Just 5:56 into the game, Jiri Hudler gained the Dallas zone and sent a pass off to the left wing for a trailing Helm. Helm rifled a shot over the glove of Stars goalie Marty Turco for his first career playoff goal.

Stephane Robidas tied things up on a Dallas power play at 10:41, blasting a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Mike Ribeiro into the open side of Chris Osgood’s net.

The Red Wings thought they had regained the lead minutes later but an apparent goal by Pavel Datsyuk was called back on a hand-pass.

With 4:47 left in the period they did take the lead back on a power play goal by Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg got the puck from Datsyuk up high and powered a shot past Turco.

The remainder of the game would be played without scoring but was not uneventful.

The teams traded power plays throughout the second period, with each team having short five-on-threes. Defense held strong throughout the rest of the game as the Red Wings preserved their lead and the Stars kept Detroit from pulling further ahead.

In the game’s closing seconds, Osgood stuck out his stick as Ribeiro skated around the net, catching the forward up high. After the clock ran out, Ribeiro swung his stick from the back of the net and caught Osgood high on his chest, earning him a match penalty.

Osgood finished the night with 17 saves on 18 shots. Turco stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced.

Each team went one-for-four on the power play.

The series shifts to Dallas on Monday with the Red Wings carrying a two games to none lead.

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The Stars were without forward Stu Barnes and defenseman Philippe Boucher to start the game and lost forward Jere Lehtinen to a leg injury in the first period.