DET vs DAL

The Detroit Red Wings dug a hole for the Dallas Stars in Game 2, but it was the Stars who may have buried themselves.

Detroit grabbed a 2-1 victory with a solid defensive performance, and frustrated the Stars so much that they may lose leading scorer Mike Ribeiro to a suspension.

Ribeiro took a two-handed slash to the chest of Detroit goalie Chris Osgood after time expired and received a match penalty, meaning the play will automatically be reviewed.

The Stars said Osgood 'butt-ended' Ribeiro as time wound down, and Osgood admitted that he 'not knowingly' hit Ribeiro with the end of his stick. Still, the retaliation play by Ribeiro will definitely draw the interest of the league and could keep Ribeiro out of Game 3.

Ribeiro led the Stars in regular season scoring with 83 points and added an assist Saturday to push his team-leading playoff totals to 15 points.

Detroit defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom called for a suspension.

"I think he should be suspended,'' Lidstrom said. "To do something like that after the game is over…He two-handed our goalie right in the chest, you can't do that.''

"That's just crossing the line," offered Wing Kris Draper. "You just kind of shake your head at what he was thinking, it's up to the league to step in and do what they have to do.''

The Stars contended Ribeiro was simply reacting to an intentional butt end from Osgood.

"Ribeiro is actually letting up on the guy and Osgood just sticks his stick out and butt-ends him,'' Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Ribeiro is not going to turn around and chop the goalie like that without having something happening. I looked at it and said, "What's he doing?' until I went in and looked at the tape."

Stars goalie Marty Turco concurred.

"A butt-end to somebody's face at any time is pretty gutless," said Turco. "Just sticking your knob out there is a dangerous play. I've caught guys, my own teammates, around the net and I've seen guys get major injuries to the face. It's something our game doesn't need."

Franzen out indefinitely?

The leading goal-scorer in the playoffs with 12, and Detroit's leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy missed Game 2 with concussion-like symptoms and is not scheduled to travel to Texas for Game 3. Johan Franzen hurt his head in the Colorado series and has had lingering headaches.

"What's interesting is yesterday he was sitting on the table and he said, 'I've got a headache, and it's worse than it's been,''' Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I was joking around with him and said, 'Whatever wires are crossed, let's keep it going.' But I didn't really think anything of it.''

Franzen had scored 26 goals in his last 26 games, but could be out for an extended period of time.

"It's about the player and his family first,'' Babcock said. "We've got to get it checked out by the experts and find out what's wrong.''

Face-offs are big part of Red Wings' domination

Detroit is killing Dallas in the face-off circle. The Red Wings won 63 per cent of the draws in Game 1 and 71 per cent in Game 2. Kris Draper and Henrik Zetterberg are leading the way.

"It's a big part of the game,'' Zetterberg said. "If you start with the puck, it's easier to win games.''

Detroit won 39 of 55 draws in Game 2 and outshot the Stars=, 34-18.

Stars can't get offence going

Dallas had plenty of scoring chances, but it simply didn't come close to capitalizing on them. Dallas had a 4-on-1 in the first period that ended in Steve Ott shooting wide and also had a Niklas Hagman breakaway that ended in a wide shot.

"It was frustrating, we have to hit the net," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We had three or four chances and he didn't even have to make a save."

Chris Osgood faced 18 shots on the night and came up with a couple of big saves against Mike Modano and Nicklas Grossman.

"Tonight I thought Dallas had a lot of chances in the first," Osgood said. "They missed the net quite a bit tonight. More than they have in previous times I've played against them.''

"I thought we tried to keep them on the outside more and give them shots from the outside and take away the inside," said Lidstrom. "I thought we were able to do that today."