Red Wings Take 3-0 Lead Over Stars As Datsyuk Fires Hat Trick

Dallas, TX (AHN) - Pavel Datsyuk whiffed one goal after another and the surging Detroit Red Wings won their ninth straight in the playoffs, a 5-2 thrashing of Dallas for a commanding 3-0 series lead Monday night at the American Airlines Arena.

With the Red Wings' most prolific scorer, Johan Franzen, out again in Game 3, the NHL's points leader in the regular season had no problems right from the onset. Datsyuk took care of that with an early two-goal output in the first period.

Datsyuk brought in a pass from Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski to break the scoring 1-0, 9:27 in. Then Nicklas Grossman tied it for his first goal of the postseason, 15:13 in the first period.

But Datsyuk returned with another shot, this time some 37 seconds past Grossman's shot. The Red Wings center made it 2-1 off an assist from Rafalski and Tomas Holmstrom.

The Stars, who lost a close 2-1 decision in Game 2, equalized again early in the second period on Brad Richards' goal but that was the only conversion remaining for the home team.

Chris Osgood got help from-who else-Datsyuk.

The Red Wings goalie stopped the next series of shots he faced, including all four in the third. Detroit would score three more goals after Richards' conversion-one from Jiri Hudler, another from Zetterberg and the last one from Datsyuk with 2:41 left.

With Osgood's 16-of-18 save clip plus Datsyuk's first career hat trick, the Red Wings are one win away from sealing another trip to the Stanley Cup finals. Game 4 is Wednesday night again in Dallas, with Detroit aiming for its second straight series sweep and a 10th victory in a row in the playoffs.