NHL Playoff

Wings not singing the Blues

Datsyuk scores twice, Franzen gets game winning goal Red Wings spanked the Blues at the Joe 4-1

DETROIT – Stringing together winning streaks is typically commonplace in Hockeytown – expect for the last 31 days.

But on Wednesday, the Red Wings started a familiar trend, winning for the second consecutive time in more than a month, kicking off a season-high, five-game homestand with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena.

Scoring even-strength goals has been hard to come by for the Wings lately. But against the Blues, Detroit managed to break the recent spell, scoring three times during five-on-five situations.

Detroit now has 94 points on the season, increasing its lead in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy by seven points over Dallas, who hosted Phoenix Wednesday night.

“I was real impressed with how hard the guys played,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We haven’t been that good, so it’s good to see the guys coming back. We’re excited to be getting Nick (Lidstrom) back and excited about getting a group going and feel good about ourselves.”

February wasn’t very kind to the Wings, who were decimated by injuries, especially along the blue line with four key contributors, including Lidstrom (knee) sitting out. They finished the month with a lowly 4-8-2 record, but good news has been on the horizon with the return of two defensemen.

Niklas Kronwall returned last Friday and Wednesday Brian Rafalski...

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