Red Wings 4, Coyotes 2
Johan Franzen highlighted a three-goal second period with a tally and an assist as the Detroit Red Wings drew first blood against the Phoenix Coyotes in their Western Conference quarterfinal series with a 4-2 triumph Wednesday.
Pavel Datsyuk, defenseman Brian Rafalski and Jiri Hudler also scored while Jimmy Howard made 26 saves for the third-seeded Red Wings, who host Game 2 on Saturday.
Kyle Turris and Radim Vrbata tallied and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 32 shots for Phoenix, which went 0-for-6 on the power play.
With the Red Wings trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, Datsyuk began the second-period outburst at 7:38 with a wraparound at the left post. Franzen put Detroit ahead at 12:02 with a shot from above the slot that beat Bryzgalov to the stick side, and Rafalski converted a power-play chance with 1:44 remaining for a 3-1 lead.
Hudler gave Detroit a three-goal cushion at 3:16 of the third, rifling a wrist shot past Bryzgalov.