As Johan Franzen goes, the Detroit Red Wings have followed this season.
Franzen scored three goals to help the suddenly potent Red Wings roll to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
Detroit has won two straight with a combined 10 goals after scoring a total of six in a six-game skid following a 5-0 start.
"It's hard to believe they struggled like that," said Colorado's Kyle Quincey,
wholesale jerseys a former Red Wings defenseman. "They're too good of a team for that."
They are much better when Franzen produces on offense.
In Detroit's seven wins, Franzen has eight goals and 13 points. He has been held scoreless in its six losses. The 6-foot-3, 223-pound forward known as "Mule" can be dominant when he shoots often, skates hard and plays physical.
"He's a huge, gifted man," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
Franzen, though, is prone to falling into deep slumps that keep him off the score sheet. Since starting strong in the previous 5-0 win in which he had a goal and two assists against Anaheim, Franzen and the Red Wings have gotten into a groove.
"We've been more relaxed since scoring the first two goals against Anaheim," Franzen said. "It seemed like the whole team got a load off our shoulders and we started to play better. We have the skill, but we had a lack of confidence."
Nicklas Lidstrom started the scoring with a slap shot from the
cheap jerseys slot off a giveaway midway through the first period.
"When everyone is gripping the stick too hard, Nick is usually the one to step up for us," Franzen said.
Franzen gave the Red Wings a three-goal lead in the second period and chased goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Dan Cleary scored off his own rebound against Jean-Sebastien Giguere to essentially seal the win with 5:14 left.
Milan Hejduk pulled the Avalanche within two goals a couple minutes later, but Franzen scored an empty-net goal with 31.3 seconds left after Giguere was pulled for an extra skater.
"It's a step in the right direction," Babcock said. "Our best players have come to life. It was just a matter of time."
Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 24 saves. Varlamov gave up three goals on 16 shots, and Giguere had 12 saves.
Colorado (7-7-1) is in a 1-5-1 rut because of its offensive struggles, scoring two goals or fewer in five games during its slide.
"We've just got to get out of this funk," Quincey said.
Gabriel Landeskog got the Avalanche within 3-1 midway through the second period.
The Avalanche dug a hole when defenseman Ryan Wilson sent the
cheap nfl jerseys puck from behind his net to between the circles, where Lidstrom was waiting to let go his slap shot and score his sixth of the season. Franzen's first two goals of the night, both on the power play, pushed Detroit's lead to 3-0.
"Our penalty kill has just got to do a better job," Avs forward David Jones said. "Every time we take a penalty, they're scoring."
Franzen deflected a shot for his first goal, ending an impressive sequence in which he, Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler and Henrik Zetterberg touched the puck in the Colorado zone. He also redirected the puck on a slap pass from Niklas Kronwall in the second period.
"You get down a couple of goals to this team, it's a tough chore to come back," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. "I think we're frustrated right now. Nothing we can do about it. We put ourselves in this situation."
Sabres 6, Jets 5
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal 4:35 into overtime, tipping in Jason Pominville's shot to rally the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-5 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
Vanek scored twice and Pominville finished with a goal and two assists. Derek Roy had two goals and an assist, forcing overtime by scoring a power-play goal with 6:08 left in regulation to help Buffalo extend its winning streak to three games.
Bryan Little scored twice, and Dustin Byfuglien and Tanner Glass each had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who closed a seven-game road trip with a 3-2-2 record.
The Sabres never led until Vanek scored in overtime. They trailed 2-0 before the game was six minutes old.
Oilers 3, Canadiens 1
MONTREAL (AP) — Nikolai Khabibulin made 28 saves and Ryan Jones scored a short-handed goal in the second period to send the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Tom Gilbert scored at 16:28 of the third to put Edmonton up 2-0.
cheap jerseys Ryan Smyth scored into an empty net with 42.4 seconds remaining.
Khabibulin, who has allowed nine goals in nine games, came within 3:10 of posting his third shutout of the season. He has yet to lose in regulation, improving to 7-0-2.
Montreal's Max Pacioretty scored 22 seconds after Gilbert to make it 2-1.
Carey Price stopped 11 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak.
Devils 3, Hurricanes 2
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Rookie center Adam Henrique scored at 16:41 of the third period to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
The Devils earned their third straight win and the Hurricanes dropped their third straight.
Henrique inadvertently sent Joni Pitkanen's pass past Martin Brodeur for a goal that tied the game at 2-2 at 6:06 of the third period.
But Henrique made up for that by skating around Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward and sliding the puck under Ward for the game-winning goal.
It was the rookie's second straight game-winner after scoring in overtime to beat Winnipeg on Saturday.
Dainius Zubrus and Petr Sykora also scored for New Jersey while Brandon Sutter scored a short-handed goal for Carolina.
Flames 3, Wild 0
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Niklas Backstrom stopped 41 shots and the Minnesota Wild beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory.
Dany Heatley had a goal and an assist for Minnesota. Darroll Powe and Guillaume Latendresse also scored.
The Flames had seven power-play opportunities, including a 5-minute man advantage in the second period, but couldn't get the puck past Backstrom.
Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves.
Kings 4, Predators 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mike Richards scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Los Angeles Kings snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
http://lightshadows.forumotion.com/t54-franzen-led-red-wings-roll-and-beat-avalancheLos Angeles defensemen Alec Martinez and Drew Doughty each got their first goal of the season. Simon Gagne also scored for the Kings and Jarret Stoll, Justin Williams and Dustin Penner had two assists apiece.
The game featured a matchup of backup goalies, with Jonathan Bernier making 27 saves for his first victory of the season in three starts, and Nashville's Andres Lindback stopping 26 shots.
Matt Halischuk, Patric Hornqvist and rookie Craig Smith scored for Nashville.
