Detroit starts fast and wins

DETROIT -- Johan Franzen, Brian Rafalski and Tomas Holmstrom scored power-play goals for the Detroit Red Wings, who built a big lead in the second period and coasted to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.

“Our starts have been great, and we’ve played well after that,” goalie Chris Osgood said.

After Valtteri Filppula put the top-seeded Red Wings ahead, 4-0, Brenden Morrow scored with a minute left in the second period to prevent the fifth-seeded Stars from getting shut out.

“We had a good two or three shifts to start the game,” Morrow said.

“But then the ice got tilted the other way.”

Game 2 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, where Stars goalie Marty Turco is 0-8-2 in his NHL career.

“There’s no question by the next game, they’ll be back and rolling,” Detroit Coach Mike Babcock said.

Turco made 27 saves, and Osgood turned away 20 shots.

The way the Franzen-led Red Wings are playing -- winning seven in a row -- they’re going to be tough to beat in any rink.

“I’m not worried about how the Red Wings played. I’m worried about how we played,” Dallas Coach Dave Tippett said. “That’s a game that wasn’t even close to the games we played in the playoffs.”