Datsyuk, Tatar lead Red Wings past Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- When playing for the second time in 24 hours, it helps to have Pavel Datsyuk.

For Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena, Datsyuk pulled three points out of his magic hands to fashion a 3-1 victory for his Detroit Red Wings.

Two of his points were earned setting up Tomas Tatar for a pair of goals, with Tatar reaching seven points in his last five games. Darren Helm picked up his fourth point in three games, and Johan Franzen had a hand in a goal for the fifth time in six games as the Wings racked up their third straight victory and seventh in eight games. They've scored 33 goals during the stretch.

A day after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Rangers at home, the Wings rolled out a 2-0 lead in the first period today. Datsyuk delivered his eighth multi-point game of the season, scoring on a shot from the right side that slipped through traffic to slide beneath Cam Ward at 16:36. Two minutes later, he sent a short pass to Tatar, who took a shot that went in off Andrej Sekera.

Backup Petr Mrazek made 11 saves in the first 20 minutes, four of them during a Carolina power play. He improved to 3-0 on the season.

Tatar and Datsyuk teamed up again in the second period, with Datsyuk dishing the puck to his winger for a goal just past the game's midpoint. The Wings didn't have much of a sustained attack in the period, out-shot at one point, 10-5. The Hurricanes dented Mrazek at 17:20, after topping 20 shots, when Tim Gleason's slap shot from the right point deflected in off Jay McClement.

Mrazek got another barrage of shots in the third period as the Hurricanes, coached by former Wings assistant Bill Peters, tried to emulate what the Wings had just done. The Wings didn't match Carolina's level of attack the second half of the game, but they didn't need to -- having Datsyuk did the trick.

Helene St. James writes for the Detroit Free Press