DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings kept rolling without their hottest player.
Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg scored first-period goals to help make up for the loss of Johan Franzen and Detroit held on for a 2-1 win Saturday over the Dallas Stars and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Stephane Robidas tied it at 1-1 midway through the first period, but the Stars struggled to get shots past Chris Osgood.
Dallas’ Marty Turco made 32 saves, but the former University of Michigan star fell to 0-9-2 in the NHL at Joe Louis Arena.
Osgood needed to stop just 17 shots and improved to 8-0 as a starter in the playoffs this season.
Game 3 is Monday in Dallas.
The game at Joe Louis Arena ended in ugly fashion as Osgood appeared to use the handle of his stick to poke Dallas’ Mike Ribiero when he skated past the net. Ribeiro then slashed Osgood across the chest from behind the net.
Following some scuffling, Ribeiro was called for a match penalty.
The Red Wings had a setback before the game, when they announced Franzen was scratched from the lineup and would miss the following game because of concussion-like symptoms. He’s had recurring headaches since early in the previous series.
Franzen has scored an NHL-high 27 times since March 2, a 27-game spell that includes a league-high and franchise-record 12 goals in the postseason.
Helm helped Detroit get off to a good start.
The fourth-line center headed down the side of the ice and put himself in perfect position to score off Jiri Hudler’s cross-ice pass. Helm scored his first goal nearly two months after his NHL debut.
Robidas caught Osgood flat-footed when he got a shot past him to tie the game for the first time in the series at 10:41 of the first period.
Turco and the Stars were too worried about net-fronting pest Tomas Holmstrom on the go-ahead goal.
After Turco tried to push Holmstrom away and a teammate was engaged with him, Zetterberg blasted a shot into the net as Turco was late getting down to stop it at 15:13 of the first.
That was all the scoring the Red Wings needed to win their eighth consecutive game, since the first-round series when they were tied 2-2 with the Nashville Predators and Osgood replaced Dominik Hasek.