DETROIT (AP) – Dominik Hasek made 32 saves and Johan Franzen had a goal and an assist to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

It was Detroit’s third consecutive game against Minnesota, and the Red Wings’ second victory. Detroit won the first game and lost the second in overtime.

Kirk Maltby and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings.

Pavol Demitra got Minnesota’s goal, and Niklas Backstrom stopped 30 shots.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game, when Maltby was credited with the goal after a rebound off Backstrom’s pads deflected in off defenseman Keith Carney’s skate.

The Red Wings increased their lead to 3-0 in the second period on goals by Zetterberg and Franzen.

Zetterberg scored from the slot 4:03 into the period, as he converted a pass from Pavel Datsyuk, for his 14th goal. Franzen put in a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle at 6:47.

Demitra put Minnesota on the board with 2:46 left in the middle period, when he put a rebound past Hasek for his ninth goal.

Notes: Detroit D Danny Markov returned after missing nine games with a broken hand. … Minnesota LW Stephane Veilleux missed his third game with a broken nose and D Petteri Nummelin missed his fourth game with an upper body injury. … Red Wings RW Mikael Samuelsson missed his fifth game with a groin injury. … Detroit C Robert Lang left the contest after the first period because of the flu. … Hasek is 7-0-2 against Minnesota for his career.

AP-ES-12-27-06 2211EST


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.