Red Wings 5, Coyotes 1
DETROIT -- Center Darren Helm had a goal and an assist in the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Left winger Justin Abdelkader, defenseman Niklas Kronwall, right winger Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Dan DeKeyser also scored for Detroit, which has points in its past nine games (6-0-3). Center Pavel Datsyuk had two assists and goaltender Jimmy Howard made 26 saves.
Left winger Jordan Martinook scored for Arizona. Goalie Mike Smith stopped 13 of 16 shots before being replaced by goaltender Anders Lindback to start the second period. Linback made 26 saves.
Helm scored 4:28 into the third period for his first goal of the season.
Detroit led 3-0 after the first period.
Abdelkader gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead with 7:30 left in the first period. Below the bottom of the left circle and with his back to the net, Abdelkader picked up a loose puck and backhanded it past Smith. It was Abdelkader's eighth goal and third in two games.
The Red Wings made it 3-0 within 18 seconds in the final minute of the first period.
Kronwall made it 2-0 with 42 seconds left in the first period when he scored from the slot after a give and go with left winger Tomas Tatar. It was Kronwall's second goal.
Nyquist then got his ninth goal when his shot from center ice bounced pass Smith with 24 seconds remaining in the first period.
Martinook made it 3-1 with a goal 5:52 into the second period. He put in a shot from the left circle for his third goal.
DeKeyser restored the Red Wings three-goal lead 1:26 later on a one-time slap shot from the right point. It was his second goal.
An apparent goal by Arizona defenseman Klas Dahlbeck 1:22 into the game was overturned when Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill challenged that the Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy was offside as left winger Mikkel Boedker carried the puck into the Detroit zone six seconds before the goal and won the challenge.
Detroit left winger Drew Miller and right winger Teemu Pulkkinen left the game in the first period and did not return after taking hits.
NOTE: Arizona RW Steve Downie returned after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. ... Detroit had points in its previous eight games (5-0-3). ... The Coyotes were without captain and RW Shane Doan (lower body injury) and C Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone). Arizona coach Dave Tippett said Doan could return Friday when the Coyotes play the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. ... The Red Wings were missing RW Johan Franzen (concussion) and D Kyle Quincey (ankle). ... Arizona's healthy scratches were LW Craig Cunningham and LW John Scott. ... Detroit's healthy scratches were C Joakim Andersson, RW Tomas Jurco and D Jakub Kindl.