Red Wings 5 - 4 Stars
Final
  for this game

Red Wings one goal better than Stars

Jan 4, 2012 - 6:14 AM Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Jiri Hudler scored twice and Valtteri Filppula added a goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings took a 5-4 win over the Dallas Stars.

Johan Franzen and Cory Emmerton each had a goal while Jimmy Howard stopped 25 shots for the Red Wings, who have won four of five.

"We've been playing well at home, but we haven't been playing well on the road," said Filppula. "We didn't play our best, but we got the win and that's all that counts."

Michael Ryder scored twice and had an assist, Jamie Benn added a goal and two helpers while Loui Eriksson contributed a tally and an assist for the Stars, who have dropped three of four. Kari Lehtonen was charged with five goals on 31 shots in the loss.

"It shows our character that we keep battling, all the way to the end," said Benn. "We just ran out of time before we could tie things up."

The Red Wings scored 8:02 into the game when Filppula put the puck into an empty net from the right side and Hudler's first of the game came with 2:54 left in the first as Henrik Zetterberg's shot from the slot hit off of Hudler.

Dallas scored just 50 seconds later when Eriksson brought the puck around the net and took it to the slot before firing a wrister through traffic.

However, the Red Wings took a 3-1 lead into the second as Hudler's one-timer in the slot off a feed from Filppula got past Lehtonen.

Benn's 10th goal of the season came 1:04 in as he took a rebound off the backboards at the right side and shot it past a surprised Howard.

Emmerton, though, got it back less than three minutes later as his shot off a sharp angle at the left side snuck in.

Ryder's wrister from the left circle at the 7:25 mark of the second made it a 4-3 contest, but Detroit was able to take a two-goal lead into the third when Franzen's one-timer from the left circle got past Lehtonen with 8:14 to play in the second.

Dallas made it a one-goal game with 5:53 to play as Ryder used his own player for a screen and snapped a wrister into the net from the right circle.

That was it, though, as the Red Wings were able to hold off the Stars for the win.

Game Notes

Detroit plays in Toronto on Saturday...Dallas plays in Nashville on Thursday...Detroit has won both matchups with Dallas this season...There was just one penalty in the game, a holding the stick minor to Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi just 15 seconds into the contest.






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