With no Henrik Zetterberg or Johan Franzen for much of Saturday's game, Pavel Datsyuk was needed more than ever. Boy did he respond.
Datsyuk had a goal and three assists for the Detroit Red Wings as they built a 4-0 lead and then held on for a 4-3 win and a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Coyotes. Shane Doan had a pair of goals for the Coyotes, who will host the next two games in the series.
Franzen went out when he was hit from behind by Doan, sliding hard into the boards. Franzen needed 23 stitches to close the wounds on his face, but was able to return in the second period.
Datsyuk got the Wings on the board midway through the first on a powerplay, taking a pass from Nicklas Lidstrom and skating into the slot before firing a low shot that beat Ilya Bryzgalov through traffic. Brian Rafalski's power play goal five mintues later added to the lead and then Datsyuk took control again.
Datsyuk grabbed a loose puck at the Phoenix blue line, skated in on Bryzgalov and fired a shot--between his own legs--that Bryzgalov stopped, but Darren Helm was able to pounce on the rebound and net the goal.
Tomas Holmstrom tipped in a Valtteri Filppula shot in the second period to get the lead to 4-0, but Phoenix came storming back.
The Coyotes got three power play goals--a game after going 0-for-6 on the man advantage--two by captain Doan in the third period that got Phoenix back within 4-3.