Red Wings 5, Stars 2
Red-hot Johan Franzen scored with 16:13 left in the third period to break a tie and the Detroit Red Wings also got goals from three defensemen to defeat the visiting Dallas Stars 5-2 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
Franzen tucked a loose puck past Andrew Raycroft for his ninth goal, and fifth in the last four games, to make it 3-2. Franzen also had an assist and has four during that span.
Niklas Kronwall scored for the second straight game and fellow defensemen Brad Stuart and Ian White also had goals for the Red Wings (9-5-1), who won for only the second time in the last seven games against the Stars and took the lead in the all-time series, 102-101-34.
Jimmy Howard made 25 saves and has a 1.00 goals-against average and .959 save percentage during the winning streak. He improved to 3-4-1 lifetime against Dallas.
Loui Erikkson and Brenden Morrow scored, and Andrew Raycroft made 35 stops for the Stars (11-5-0), who lost their second straight and had won four of their previous five at Detroit.
Darren Helm's goal at 9:19 made it 4-2 and came moments after Detroit's White preserved the lead by saving a Jamie Benn shot destined to go in the net with his face. White left the game and did not return.
The Stars were without top defenseman Alex Goligoski, who will miss approximately four weeks with a broken thumb suffered in Friday's 3-1 loss at Pittsburgh.