updated 11:35 p.m. ET June 6, 2009

DETROIT - Red Wings coach Mike Babcock always says timing is everything on special teams.

Well, Detroit couldn’t have picked a better game to excel on the power play and when the Pittsburgh Penguins had an extra skater.

The Red Wings killed a penalty midway through the first period to keep the game scoreless Saturday night and had three power-play goals in the second period, keying a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh that gave them a 3-2 lead in the series.

“That first kill was a big boost for us,” Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski said. “I think it gave us a lot of confidence going forward.”

Detroit entered the pivotal game awful on special teams.

In the first four games of the series, the Red Wings were 1 for 10 on the power play and allowed the Penguins to score four times on nine power plays.

“We just couldn’t keep losing that battle,” Babcock said. “We had to compete harder and be better on both specialty teams in order to have success. Our guys have a lot of pride and we wanted to do that.”

The defending champions were much better in both situations and that’s a big reason they have a chance to hoist the Cup in Game 6 on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh just as they did last season against the Penguins.

Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski and Henrik Zetterberg scored power-play goals in the second period, tying a franchise playoff record for goals in one period with an extra skater against a team that hadn’t allowed more than one power-play goal in a game this postseason.

“They were really hot,” Pittsburgh’s Bill Guerin said. “The penalties were definitely an issue for us.”

Pavel Datsyuk’s return certainly gave the Red Wings a boost in all phases of the game, helping them win their 49th straight game in the playoffs when they score at least four goals.

Datsyuk didn’t play on the penalty kill as he normally would, but the Red Wings did what they wanted to earlier in the series.

They cleared the puck each time they had a chance instead of passing to a teammate to make an aggressive play the first time Pittsburgh had a power play.

“They were aggressive and got pucks down the ice, and forced us to go back several times, which is what you do on a good penalty kill,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. “And they certainly gained momentum from the kill, and the crowd at that point.”

When Detroit had power plays, it successfully pressured Marc-Andre Fleury with shots and rebounds and ended the goaltender’s night after he gave up a third power-play goal in the second period.

“Most of the time, he’s going to make the save,” Zetterberg said. “You just have to be there for the second pucks and I think we did a better job than we did in Pittsburgh.”

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Don Smith / NHLI via Getty Images

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  The San Jose Sharks capitalized on their scoring chances in the first period and the early part of the second period in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Kings. After falling behind by two goals, the Kings almost cut the lead in half in the second period, but the referee blew the play dead as the puck was about to cross the goal line. The series is now tied at two.

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