Franzen, Tatar Lift Red Wings Over Blackhawks, 4-1
DETROIT (AP) — Johan Franzen and Tomas Tatar both scored during Detroit's dominant second period, and the Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night.
Franzen scored his fifth goal, with an assist from Henrik Zetterberg, at 4:49 of the second to break a 1-1 tie. Tatar added his fifth 1:10 later when he sent in a rebound of Joakim Andersson's shot. The Blackhawks were outshot 20-8 in the period.
The two-goal lead was plenty for Jimmy Howard, who stopped 25 shots for his seventh victory.
Luke Glendening put Detroit on the board six minutes in when he backhanded a rebound of Drew Miller's shot past Corey Crawford, who finished with 32 saves. Patrick Kane scored Chicago's lone goal during a power play later in the first.
Brendan Smith put the game away with an empty-net goal.
The Blackhawks' goal came less than a minute after Howard made three point-blank saves to deny Kane. Howard didn't have to work nearly as hard the rest of the night.
The game matched the NHL's two best penalty-killing teams, and Chicago kept its league-best average above 90 percent after holding the Red Wings without a goal on three power plays.
Detroit welcomed back center Pavel Datsyuk, who had an assist after missing two games because of a sore groin.
NOTES: Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya was back after being forced out of Tuesday's win against Tampa Bay when he blocked a shot. ... Red Wings RW Tomas Jurco, a healthy scratch the previous three games, returned to the lineup. ... Chicago forwards Patrick Sharp (knee) and Daniel Carcillo (lower body) sat out.
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