The Detroit Red Wings have made the Phoenix Coyotes pay for their penalties early in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. After the first period of play, the Wings have surged out to a 3-0 lead, fueled by two power play goals and three points from Pavel Datsyuk.
Datsyuk put Detroit on the board first with a power-play score at 9:18, with an assist from Nicklas Lidstrom.
Brian Rafaski followed up with another power-play goal at the 4:10 mark, taking a slap shot between the legs of Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom drew assists on the play.
Each score was the second goal of the playoffs for both Datsyuk and Rafalski.
But Datysuk saved his slickest play for the Wings’ third goal of the period. On a breakaway up the ice, one on two, Datsyuk shot the puck between his legs at Bryzgalov. He deflected the shot, but the puck rebounded to Darren Helm, who flipped it in for a 3-0 lead. Datsyuk and Lidstrom earned their second assists of the game on the score.
The Wings lost Johan Franzen early in the period after a Shane Doan check sent him face-first into the boards. Franzen was taken off the ice with a bloody nose after being looked over by team trainers. He did not return to the ice for the rest of the period, but new NHL protocols dictate that a player must stay out for 15 minutes while he’s checked for concussion symptoms.
Niklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader took hard runs in the middle of the ice at Doan toward the end of the period, presumably to get him back for the hit on Franzen. Both teams briefly tangled behind the Detroit goal after the play, and tensions could be building as the game progresses.