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Red Wings cruise to fifth straight win, rout Stars

Jan 9, 2009 - 5:33 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings are finding their groove.

Marian Hossa and Daniel Cleary each scored a goal and set up another to lead the Red Wings to their fifth consecutive victory, a 6-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

All-Star Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg also recorded a tally and an assist and Chris Osgood made 22 saves for Detroit, which defeated Dallas in the 2008 Western Conference finals en route to its fourth Stanley Cup championship in 11 years.

Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom also scored and defenseman Niklas Kronwall collected three assists for the Red Wings, who have won six straight home games.

"That just shows our depth," Cleary said. "Over the last few games, we've really picked up our play on the power play, which has helped. We're getting some balanced scoring.

"We've played well lately. We had the two big games with Chicago. We're still trying to catch teams above us, so we have to make sure we get points every night. San Jose has been playing great all year. If we keep going, it's going to be a battle to the finish with both."

Loui Eriksson netted the lone goal - his team-leading 21st - for Dallas early in the third period. It was the first tally the Red Wings have allowed at Joe Louis Arena since December 23, ending a shutout streak of over 179 minutes.

"We've been talking about (cutting down the goals against) all year," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "It's a work in progress. You're always trying to get better.

"Our goaltending is better, there's no question. (Ty) Conklin has played real well and Ozzie has come back (from a groin injury) real fresh. That's a good sign."

Hossa opened the scoring at 4:07 of the first period after Cleary cleanly won a faceoff in the offensive zone. Defenseman Brad Stuart then delivered a pass to Hossa, who converted with a wrist shot for his 19th goal of the season.

Cleary made it 2-0 with what proved to be the game-winner, stuffing the puck into the net after falling down near the goalpost during a scramble in front with 8:32 remaining in the opening session.

"It's always easier to play with a 2-0 lead," Hossa said. "It's a huge difference than always coming back from losing the game. Tonight, we played strong in every aspect of the game."

The early lead for Detroit was the last thing Dallas wanted.

"We tried to use this game as a measuring stick, and I guess it put us back to reality in a hurry," Stars center Steve Ott said. "They're the top team in the league for a reason, and they pretty much embarrassed us for 60 minutes.

"Once they got that 2-0 lead, they kept pressing us. We got standing and watching them flat-footed. When that happens, they're such a super-skilled team, they'll continue to make plays. The ship started to sink early."

Maltby netted his third goal of the campaign with 7:33 left in the second and Holmstrom added a power-play tally with 2:56 remaining, giving Detroit a 4-0 advantage heading into the final period.

"Ever since I've been here, it's always been that we get scoring from everybody," Maltby said. "Everybody knows who the big guys are and what their jobs are, but when you get third- and fourth-line guys chipping in and your second and third pair of defensemen are putting pucks on net or setting goals up, it makes things a lot easier."

After Eriksson ended Osgood's bid for his first shutout of the season 38 seconds into third, Datsyuk recorded his 18th goal on a power play at 5:07 to restore the four-goal bulge.

Zetterberg capped the scoring with 8:58 to go.

"They made some good plays, but our execution was poor," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "Our guys didn't play well, from the goaltender on up."

Marty Turco stopped 14 of the 18 shots he faced over two periods before being replaced by Tobias Stephan, who made 13 saves in the third. Turco fell to 0-8-2 lifetime at Joe Louis Arena during the regular season.

"I can't let pucks go through me for us to have a chance," Turco said.