Detroit (AP) -- Nicklas Lidstrom has seen the Detroit Red Wings at their best, helping them win three Stanley Cups in a six-year stretch.
After Detroit drilled the Dallas Stars 4-1 in the Western Conference finals opener for its seventh straight win, Lidstrom said the Red Wings are as dominant as ever.
"I think it's very comparable to some of the teams we had back in the '90s,'' the five-time Norris Trophy winner said Thursday night.
It didn't take long to see the Red Wings were still rolling, not rusty, playing for the first time since sweeping the Colorado Avalanche.
"It's been a week and we were really anxious to get back into playing,'' Lidstrom said. ``Keeping a lot of focus on that and talking a lot about it I think really helped the team to set the tone early on.''
Power plays helped, too.
Johan Franzen, Brian Rafalski and Tomas Holmstrom took advantage of Dallas' penalty-filled start, helping the Red Wings lead by four goals in the second period.
The Stars couldn't recover.
They simply looked tired.
Dallas advanced past the San Jose Sharks in one of the longest games in NHL history - ending Monday morning in a fourth overtime - after playing three other OT games in the series.
"It looked like we lacked a little emotion or jump we had in the other series,'' Marty Turco said.
Turco took the brunt of that as Detroit scored on two of its first seven shots.
"Whether it's fatigue or whatever, we just weren't at the level we needed to be,'' coach Dave Tippett said.
After Valtteri Filppula put the top-seeded Red Wings ahead 4-0, Brenden Morrow scored with a minute left in the second period to prevent the fifth-seeded Stars from getting shut out.
"We had a good two or three shifts to start the game,'' Morrow said. ``But then the ice got tilted the other way.''
Game 2 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, where Stars goalie Marty Turco is 0-8-2 in his NHL career.
Turco, who made 27 saves, was serenaded with jeers of ``Turrr-co! Turrr-co!'' by fans early and often.
But Tippett tried to deflect blame for the blowout.
"A lot had to do with the team in front of him,'' he said.
Detroit's Chris Osgood turned away 20 shots, improving to 7-0 as a starter since replacing Dominik Hasek in Game 4 against Nashville.
"It's a myth that you get rusty when you get time off,'' Osgood insisted.
Dallas upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in the first round and then topped the second-seeded Sharks after starting both series with two road wins.
The way the Franzen-led Red Wings are playing, they're going to be tough to beat in any rink.
"I'm not worried about how the Red Wings played. I'm worried about how we played,'' Dallas coach Dave Tippett bristled.
"That's a game that wasn't even close to the games we played in the playoffs.''
Franzen's 12th goal extended his team postseason scoring record, and the player known as Mule matched another club mark by finding the net for a fifth straight game. Gordie Howe pulled off the feat in 1949 and '64. Ted Lindsay scored in five consecutive games in 1952.
"I don't think about those records right now, maybe I'll look back on it after the season or when I quit playing,'' Franzen said.
"I don't want to be mentioned with them. I still want to look at myself as a hard worker out there.''
Franzen has 15 points in 11 playoff games, tying Jaromir Jagr of the already-eliminated New York Rangers. He is the first player to score 12 playoff goals since Rob Brind'Amour did for Carolina in 2006.
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