Detroit's Johan Franzen leads the NHL playoffs with 12 goals and ranks second in points with 15. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)Is there any stopping the Detroit Red Wings?
The Wings will try to keep their playoff winning streak alive and take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference final when they host the Dallas Stars Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:00 pm ET).
After dropping a pair of games to the Nashville Predators in their opening round series, the Wings have reeled off seven consecutive victories in the post-season (outscoring the opposition 32-11 in that span), including a 4-1 domination of the Stars in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series on Thursday.
The Red Wings skated hard, controlled the pace of the game, took advantage when they were on the power play and received solid goaltending from Chris Osgood.
Detroit was coming off a weeklong layoff after sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, so you could hardly blame them if they looked rusty against Dallas, but the Red Wings were completely dominant and showed no signs of slowing down.
''We've got a group that wants to win bad, and we're determined,'' said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. ''We've been here before and never got the job done. We'd like to take the next step.''
'Eager to play again,' Osgood says
''We got rested up and, if anything, you get eager to play again,'' added Osgood, who pushed his playoff record to 7-0. ''We missed playing. We wanted to start playing again.''
Forward Johan Franzen has scored 27 goals in the last 27 games, including a run of five straight games in the playoffs with at least one goal. That's an amazing scoring run for a player who had 10 and 12 goals in his two previous seasons with the Wings.
"I shouldn't be scoring this much,'' Franzen admitted. "I've never done this before.''
Franzen has benefited from being bumped up the to team's No. 1 power play with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg after Tomas Holmstrom was injured.
"He got his chance to play with Pavs and Hank, and he has taken advantage of it,'' said Wings centre Kris Draper. "Maybe I need to get a chance on that line.''
But Draper insists Franzen has earned the goals he's scored.
"He's working hard,'' Draper said.
As for the Stars, they'll be looking to give goaltender Marty Turco a clearer view of things.
Plan to 'battle harder'
In Game 1, the Red Wings pushed a steady traffic of players in front of Turco, blocking his view on three of the four goals they scored.
''We did a good job of getting pucks on Marty, making things difficult for him,'' Osgood said. '''We do have flashy players, but tonight we scored by going to the net and getting guys in front of the goalie.''
Stars coach Dave Tippett insists that the Wings illegally crowded Turco in his crease.
"If they're going be allowed to stand in his crease, then we have to battle harder to clear them out. Simple as that," Tippett said.
Turco dismissed his 0-8-2 career record in Detroit as inconsequential after his team had a shaky outing in Game 1.
"I personally don't think there's much correlation," Turco said of his record in Detroit and his performance in Game 1. "They've got good teams, they've had them here…purpose, skill, grit, the power play, they really work well together. We've seen that before, and we know what to expect from them.
"So, really, it doesn't matter, it's one game down for us, and we have to win at least one here if we're going to take the series, so we'll look at taking Game 2.''
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 and 4 next Monday and Wednesday.
