DETROIT – When the Detroit Red Wings get their offense rolling, they can be as dangerous as any team in the NHL.
The Dallas Stars were firsthand witnesses on Thursday night as the Red Wings scored three goals in the first period en route to a 5-2 victory.
The Red Wings have scored at least four goals in 14 games this season, including seven of the past nine.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I just like scoring more than the other team, and I like when the other team gets less than two.”
The Red Wings got back on track after a 4-3 loss to Panthers on Tuesday snapped a four-game winning streak.
“We weren’t very happy after the Florida game,” said Kyle Quincey, who scored his first goal of the season on a long slap shot in the third period. “We put a lot of urgency on tonight, just getting back to doing what we do.”
Darren Helm, who gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the first, netted his second goal of the game with 6:53 left to complete the scoring. The third period belonged to the Red Wings, who scored two goals and held a 9-3 edge in shots.
“Everyone is healthy for the first time in a long time,” Helm said. “We’ve got good chemistry out there, and we’re a real confident group.”
Stephen Weiss and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves. Jussi Rynnas stopped 24 shots for Dallas.
Detroit struck early when Helm dumped the puck toward the net from the red line, banking it in off the side of Rynnas’ pads 3:58 in.
But 15 seconds later Dallas defenseman Jordie Benn led Colton Sceviour with a beautiful cross-ice pass. Sceviour poked it in to tie it.
Midway through the period, Detroit struck again.
Rynnas got turned around following a quick pass from Riley Sheahan to Stephen Weiss, who slipped in at 11:14.
Detroit controlled the puck and the pace for the majority of the first period. With a minute to go, Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead with a power-play goal.
“Goals-against is a team thing,” Sceviour said. “It doesn’t take one guy. We’ve left our goalies out to dry, unfortunately, too many times.”
This was the first start of the season for Rynnas, with Kari Lehtonen (3.1 goals against average) off to a slow start.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he will take a game-by-game approach to the goalie situation, adding that both will continue to play.
“We’re not going to win giving up five goals a night. No team is,” he said.
Tyler Seguin cut Dallas’ deficit to 3-2 at 14:26 of the second with a slot shot that hopped over Howard’s skate for a power-play goal.
At the other end, Rynnas settled in and stopped all 10 Detroit shots in the second period, but the Red Wings pulled away in the third.
NOTES: Dallas RW Patrick Eaves missed his first game after he broke his ankle while blocking a shot Tuesday in a loss to Toronto. Eaves is expected to be out 4-to-6 weeks. . Detroit RW Justin Abdelkader missed his second game due to a shoulder injury sustained Sunday against Vancouver. . Seguin played junior hockey with the suburban Detroit-based Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey league.
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