Red Wings defeat Coyotes 4-1 to take 3-2 lead in first-round series

Red Wings take series lead with 4-1 victory

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jimmy Howard turned in another outstanding performance and Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and an assist as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 on Friday night to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round Western Conference series.

Holmstrom and Datsyuk scored 1:10 apart midway through the third period to break a 1-all tie to help give Detroit its first series lead. The Red Wings are the first to win consecutive games.

Howard, coming off a shutout, finished with 30 saves, including two huge stops on Martin Hanzal’s breakaway with the score tied 1-1.

Henrik Zetterberg scored for the sixth time in the series and Drew Miller had a goal for Detroit, which can close out the series Sunday at home.

Ed Jovanovski scored for Phoenix, and Ilya Bryzgalov had 25 saves.

Detroit has won Game 5 six times in its last seven series that were tied 2-2. This one was mostly due to Howard, who kept the game tight until his offense came alive.

The rookie’s biggest saves came just under 5 minutes into the third period. Hanzal had a chance to put the Coyotes ahead when he jumped on the puck after coming out of the penalty box, but Howard blocked his breakaway shot. Then, from his back, he got a piece of Hanzal’s rebound attempt.

Holmstrom put Detroit ahead for good when he tapped the puck into an open net off a rebound with 8:51 left.

Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a two-goal cushion with 7:41 to play before Zetterberg closed the scoring with an empty-netter with 56 seconds remaining.

The Coyotes were without captain Shane Doan for a second straight game due to an upper body injury, but they kept this one close most of the way.

Phoenix brought an 0 for 14 streak power-play drought into the game and failed to score on its first opportunity after falling behind 1-0. But 12 seconds after that power play expired, Jovanovski swept in a rebound — tying it at 9:45 of the second.

The goal woke up the crowd and gave the Coyotes a little of the offensive boost they were looking for after being shut out in Game 3. They couldn’t solve Howard the rest of the game.

Phoenix will attempt to do something it has never done as a franchise, rally from a 3-2 series deficit. Since moving to Arizona, the Coyotes have never won a postseason series (0-5).

Miller scored the first goal at 17:04 of the first period when his shot from just outside the crease ricocheted in off Vernon Fiddler’s skate.

NOTES: Coyotes D Mathieu Schneider was added to the lineup in place of F Robert Lang. The 40-year-old Schneider, who has played for 10 teams, has appeared in the playoffs with seven clubs. … Detroit F Johan Franzen has a point in each game of this series. … Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom had an assist to tie Al MacInnis (121) for the third most in the postseason by a defenseman. … The Coyotes started selling tickets for the second round on Friday morning .