It's an adage almost as old as Lord Stanley's mug. If a team wants to succeed in the playoffs, its best players have to be its best players.
Friday, that was the case for the Detroit Red Wings.
Henrik Zetterberg recorded his first career Stanley Cup hat-trick and Pavel Datsyuk also scored as the Wings downed the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series, pulling Detroit even in this best-of-seven set.
"You've just got to settle down and do your thing," Zetterberg said. "The last game, we got off to a good start, but we didn't create any quality chances. I thought we created better in this game."
Zetterberg snapped a 4-4 tie in the third period with his second goal of the game, the eventual game-winner, and finished the scoring with an empty-netter. He now has tallied 42 Stanley Cup goals and has registered 52 points in his last 45 playoff games.
Zetterberg's line combined for five of Detroit's seven goals, with Valtteri Filppula scoring twice.
Playing his 100th career Stanley Cup game, Datsyuk ended a 15-game playoff goal-scoring slump when he tallied in the second period.
"We just needed to stay composed and take advantage of our chances," Zetterberg said.
Five alive
The Wings and Coyotes brought back memories of the wide-open 1980s during the second period, combining to score five times in a span of 3:58.
"There was a few minutes in the second period where it seemed like every chance that went on net was going in," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said.
In the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it was the third-fastest time ever posted for two teams to put five pucks in the net.
The Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks scored five times in 3:06 on April 21, 1985. The North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers combined to tally five goals in 3:20 on April 29, 1980.
"It was a lot of back and forth there in the second period," Zetterberg said. "There were a lot of odd-man rushes. Both teams got out of their positions, and that's when goals get scored."
O from D
Phoenix and Detroit iced two of the top-scoring defensive units during the regular season. Only Vancouver's defence (42 goals) scored more goals than the Phoenix blue-line crew (40), with Detroit's defence coming home third (36).
It's continued for the Coyotes in the playoffs. Keith Yandle, making his Stanley Cup debut in this series, has scored in both games. Derek Morris netted the winner in Game 1.
The Wings, meanwhile, are still waiting for a tally from their back end in post-season play.
Move aside Moose
When he took the ice for his first shift of Game 2, Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom moved past Mark Messier (236 games) into third spot on the Stanley Cup career games played list.
"It's something I'm proud about," Lidstrom said. "I never thought about when I started playing in this league, but I've been on quite a few successful teams that have gone deep in the playoffs.
"We've had a lot of success the last 15 years."
Only Chris Chelios (266) and Patrick Roy (247) remain ahead of Lidstrom on the all-time list.
No surprise
The Coyotes anticipated that they'd see a different Detroit team take the ice for Game 2.
"They're a veteran team that knows how to respond," Phoenix defenceman Ed Jovanovski said. "They've been in this situation before and they've found ways to win games.
"We knew as a group they we're going to be good."
Justin time
A week ago, forward Justin Abdlekader wasn't even in the NHL. In Game 2, he scored Detroit's fourth goal.
"You don't want to do anything you don't do ordinarily," said Abdelkader, called up from Grand Rapids of the AHL for the playoffs. "I played up here for 50 (regular-season) games and played with different combinations of different guys, so I don't think it takes long for the chemistry to come back.
"You've just got to be ready and keep your head up, like you do for any team."
