Stars play better, but not good enough in Game 2 loss

DETROIT – They couldn't beat Chris Osgood, so they tried to hurt him.

Literally. Problem is even that strategy didn't work for the Dallas Stars who lost 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings to fall behind 2-0 in the Western Conference final, and now it's back to the drawing board.

Slashing Chris Osgood in the chest might cost Mike Ribeiro a suspension for Game 3. (AP)

Unlike the opener, the Stars were actually in this game. But they were frustrated by the Red Wings tight defense and -- in particular -- their goalie throughout the night and it boiled over at the end in the form of an incomprehensible and potentially debilitating act for them. Osgood wasn't injured from the two handed chop he took across the chest as time expired from Mike Ribeiro, but the Stars leading scorer will almost certainly be forced out of the lineup when the series switches back to Dallas for what will be a crucial Game 3 on Monday.

"It got me across the back and in the ribs kind of," Osgood said. "I do have a lot of padding there but it got me in the side where I didn't have much, so it did hurt a little, but I'll be fine."

The Stars though, may not be able to say the same thing. Coming off a sluggish opener, Dallas had better skating legs and ramped up its overall effort by moving more effectively through neutral zone, getting pucks deeper and putting more pressure on the Red Wings in their zone. Still, it was not nearly enough to deal with a Detroit team that pushed back physically and more importantly, seemed to be always starting with the puck because it was again dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 39 of 54 draws.

"I don't really know what the answer is," said Stars center Brad Richards, who was the best of his team's lot by winning six of 14 faceoffs. "They're a good faceoff team, its something we talked about and maybe it will help when we get home, but we know that something we have to improve on."

One of the things anyway. Early in the game, the Stars actually had several good chances against a team that doesn't generally give them, but Dallas blew its chances to take the lead because the Stars couldn't get their shots on net. Joel Lundqvist had a glorious opportunity when Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart gave the puck away in the first minute but fired wide, and then a few moments later, Stars agitator Steve Ott blasted one over the net when Dallas broke in on a 4-on-1.

"Those kinds of things hurt, especially in a game that was as tight as this one," said Stars forward Mike Modano. "I thought we played with a little more efficiency, just need that one extra play that we couldn't make offensively."

Meanwhile the Red Wings did. They recovered the puck after Ott missed and moved it quickly down the ice where rookie Darren Helm took a pass from Jiri Hudler just inside the blue line and beat Stars goalie Marty Turco with a long shot to the far corner.

Dallas drew closer even briefly when Stephane Robidas one-timed a pass from Ribeiro on a Stars power play, but the Red Wings regained the lead five minutes later as Henrik Zetterberg beat Turco on a Red Wings man advantage with a screened shot from the point. The play naturally started with Detroit winning the faceoff and not letting go of the puck until Zetterberg fired it home.

"When you get control of the puck, you always have a chance to make a play," Zetterberg said. "Right now, that part of the game is going pretty good for us."

From then on, it was all about the Red Wings and their top rated defense shutting down the Stars. Osgood had to face only 18 shots in total, but the veteran did have to come up with several big saves particularly in the second period when Detroit got into uncharacteristic penalty trouble that let the Stars find some life.

"We took the four minors in a row and we had good kills in that, but the reality is that you're not using your bench and you're not playing with much tempo, so that was an advantage to them," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "But Ozzie stood tall."

In many ways, that's been the big difference in this series. The Stars were presumed to have the advantage in goal with Turco, but the Dallas veteran has been unable to shake the jinx that has plagued him as a pro in Joe Louis Arena, where he is now 0-9-2. Turco was sharper in this game than he was in the opener, but even with Detroit scoring star Johan Franzen out of the lineup, Turco had to deal with a lot of traffic in front.

And unless the Stars can find a way to give him more help, this series won't last very long.

"We realize what we need to do," said Turco. "Tonight certainly is disappointing to go down 0-2, but we'll have a chance when we go home because it will be a totally different atmosphere. For us, there's not doubt we can win some games at home."

They'll have to.