Red Wings 4, Coyotes 2
DETROIT (AP) - Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen scored midway through the second period to put the Detroit Red Wings ahead, and they went on to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 Wednesday night in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
Brian Rafalski and Jiri Hudler padded Detroit's lead late in the second period and early in the third.
Jimmy Howard made 26 saves for the third-seeded Red Wings.
Kyle Turris scored 2:16 in to put Phoenix ahead in his playoff debut. Radim Vrbata had a goal midway through the third period to pull the sixth-seeded Coyotes within two goals, but they couldn't get any closer.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.