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

Franzen’s 12th goal extended his team postseason scoring record, and the player known as Mule matched another club mark by finding the net for a fifth straight game. Gordie Howe pulled off the feat in 1949 and ’64. Ted Lindsay scored in five consecutive games in 1952.

“I don’t think about those records right now, maybe I’ll look back on it after the season or when I quit playing,” Franzen said. “I don’t want to be mentioned with them. I still want to look at myself as a hard worker out there.”

Franzen has 15 points in 11 playoff games, tying Jaromir Jagr of the already-eliminated New York Rangers.

The Red Wings were so superior in the first two periods it appeared that they had a man advantage in even-strength situations. They also created scoring chances while killing penalties.

“It looked like we lacked a little emotion or jump we had in the other series,” Turco said.

The Stars struggled to skate with Detroit, leading to early hooking and holding penalties that were costly.

With Detroit enjoying a two-man advantage, Rafalski scored 4:28 into the game after a shot by Lidstrom caromed off the post directly to him at the point.

“We hung him out to dry with the 5-on-3,” Morrow said.

Franzen and Holmstrom both scored by standing in front and redirecting shots past Turco.

“It makes me happy that I’m at my end,” Osgood said. “I couldn’t see Marty in the net, there were so many guys in front, doing a great job of tipping pucks.”

Detroit showed it could score at even strength, too, when two long passes set up Filppula to flick in a shot.

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“It’s been a week and we were really anxious to get back into playing,” Lidstrom said. “Keeping a lot of focus on that and talking a lot about it I think really helped the team to set the tone early on.”

Notes: Dallas did beat Detroit at something, signing Swedish free agent Fabian Brunnstrom after he was wooed by a handful of NHL teams. ... The Stars were without Philippe Boucher (hip) and Stu Barnes (concussion). Detroit had two banged-up players, Chris Chelios (lower body) and Filppula (leg), in the lineup. ... In a slight surprise, Detroit’s Darren McCarty was a healthy scratch and was replaced by Kirk Maltby (hamstring), who played for the first time in the playoffs. “It was a tough decision,” Babcock said. “We wanted more speed.” ... Franzen is the first player in two years to score 12 playoff goals. ... Detroit is 3-0 in three postseason matchups against Dallas, most recently winning the 1998 conference finals en route to hoisting the Stanley Cup for a second straight year. ... Faces in the crowd included Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees, who start a series against the Tigers on Friday. ... While in goal for the Michigan Wolverines, Turco was 18-5 at Joe Louis Arena. ... Morrow, a key player against San Jose, scored his eighth goal of the postseason off a rebound late in the second.

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