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Quick-striking Red Wings notch sixth straight win

Feb 13, 2009 - 4:43 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- A quick sequence was all that was needed to ignite the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

Jiri Hudler and Kris Draper scored 50 seconds apart in the second period as the Red Wings skated to their season-high sixth straight victory, a 4-2 triumph over the Minnesota Wild.

Ville Leino netted his third goal in his sixth career game and Mikael Samuelsson also tallied for Detroit, which has outscored the opposition, 29-15, during the streak.

"We're playing good the last five or six games here," Samuelsson said. "We're shooting more, playing better defensively and skating better, too."

Marian Hossa notched a pair of assists and Chris Osgood made 21 saves for the Red Wings, who posted their fourth straight win at Joe Louis Arena.

"The first period was kind of slower, but we played well defensively," Hossa said. "In the second, we took over and we played creative. We got the three-goal lead. In the third period, we just controlled the game."

"We're without Mule (Johan Franzen), Homer (Tomas Holmstrom) and (defenseman Brad) Stuart," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Those are three real good hockey players, but we're clipping along and actually playing better than we did prior to them getting hurt."

Franzen missed his third straight game with a hand injury, while Holmstrom (hernia) and Stuart (ribs) are on injured reserve.

Defenseman Brent Burns netted a power-play goal, Mikko Koivu added a shorthanded tally and Antti Miettinen collected a pair of assists for Minnesota, which fell to 4-2-0 in its last six games.

"They were like a machine," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said of the Red Wings. "The way they were playing tonight, they were just superior. They have about nine players who can do things constantly."

Josh Harding turned aside 39 shots for the Wild.

"It's always a little tough playing against those guys," Harding said. "They have a lot of skill."

With the game tied at 1-1 midway through the second period, Hudler received a pass from Hossa on the doorstep and wristed a shot past Harding for his career-high 18th goal of the season.

Draper doubled the advantage moments later, accepting a feed from Hossa in the left faceoff circle and blasting a shot between the pads of Harding.

Leino gave Detroit a three-goal bulge by collecting the rebound of a shot by Tomas Kopecky and beating Harding to the right goalpost on a wraparound with 2:45 remaining in the middle session.

Babcock is pleased to see his team is not just relying on Pavel Datsyuk (24 goals) and Henrik Zetterberg (20) for its scoring punch.

"Pav and Z didn't have to carry the offense tonight," Babcock said. "That's a real positive."

Koivu trimmed the deficit to 4-2 after he tucked the puck past Osgood while shorthanded midway through the third period, but the Wild were unable to draw any closer.

"It's more mental than anything else," Osgood said after posting his third straight win. "I'm going out there now without the weight of the world on my shoulders. As an athlete, you have high expectations for yourself."