NHL: Detroit burns Calgary in first playoff matchup

April 12, 2007

''Red Wings lead series 1-0. (Best of Seven)''

Calgary never knew what hit them Thursday night, as the Detroit Red Wings, which came into the playoffs as the first seed in the West, cruised to victory. By 8:36 in the first period, the Red Wings had opened up a 2-0 lead on the Flames, with Valtteri Filppula and Nicklas Lidstrom scoring on Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff, who was bombarded by shots the entire game. Dominik Hasek was spectacular in goal, as he has been so many times this season, stopping 19 of 20 shots faced. Calgary's only consolation came at 14:55 in the third, when Alex Tanguay scored a power play goal.

Despite the Red Wings victory, the Flames will have a chance to tie up the series, which is just getting started, when they will do battle again against Detroit on Sunday. Opening face off is scheduled for 1:00 EDT.

Three Stars of the Game

 * #1 = Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit Red Wings - 1 Goal, 1 Assist
 * #2 = Pavel Datsyuk, C, Detroit Red Wings - 1 Goal, 1 Assist
 * #3 = Mathieu Schneider, D, Detroit Red Wings - 1 Goal, 1 Assist