Red Wings rout Avalanche

Johan Franzen and the Detroit Red Wings are kicking the Colorado Avalanche when it’s down.

Franzen scored three times to lift the Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the banged-up Avalanche on Saturday at Detroit, giving the NHL’s top-seeded team a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Franzen -- a 6-foot-3, 220-pound center known as “Mule” -- redirected a shot in front of the net early in the first period, scored on a wraparound in the second period and whacked a rebound out of the air in the third period for his first career hat trick.

Darren McCarty was the last Red Wing to score three times in the playoffs, pulling off the feat against the Avalanche during the 2002 conference final en route to winning the Stanley Cup.

“Sorry about that, Mac,” Franzen joked. “What can I say? I got lucky.”

Colorado’s Jose Theodore gave up four goals on 20 shots and was pulled for a second consecutive game. Peter Budaj stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second period and finished with 19 saves.

The sixth-seeded Avalanche can only hope two days off and home ice will help it when the series resumes. Game 3 is Tuesday night at Denver.

Colorado was without center Peter Forsberg (groin), defenseman Scott Hannan (lower-body injury) and winger Wojtek Wolski (upper-body injury) in Game 2.

Forsberg skated before the game, but was scratched from the lineup. Hannan was out because of a lower-body injury suffered during Thursday night’s game.

Wolski is not expected to return in the second-round series because of an upper-body injury that knocked him out of Game 1.

Philadelphia 4, at Montreal 2 -- R.J. Umberger scored twice, Martin Biron made 34 saves and the Flyers beat the Canadiens at Montreal to even their Eastern Conference semifinal series at a game apiece.

Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere also scored to help the Flyers rebound after they blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime loss.

Game 3 is Monday night in Philadelphia.

Umberger opened the scoring 5:53 in with his third goal of the playoffs. He secured the victory with his second goal with 2:21 remaining in the third, shooting into an open right side after he batted the puck out of goaltender Cary Price’s glove.

Briere, who has been booed throughout the first two games at the Bell Centre, scored his seventh goal of the playoffs 13:33 into the second to restore the Flyers’ two-goal lead after Saku Koivu scored on a power play late in the first.

Price was beaten on shots over his left shoulder twice in the first half of the opening period as Umberger and Carter scored goals 2:46 apart to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.