Henrik Zetterberg scored a pair of goals in the third period to lift the Red Wings to a 3-1 victory over the 8th-seeded Nashville Predators in Game 1 Thursday night in Detroit. Zetterberg broke a 1-1 tie 6:54 into the third period when he blasted home a one-time pass from Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings' goal leader closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 18 seconds remaining.

Game 2 is Saturday afternoon in Detroit.

Detroit opened the scoring in the first period when Johan Franzen chipped the puck past goaltender Dan Ellis 5:58 into the game. Nashville outshot the Red Wings 11-10 in an even affair over the first 20 minutes.

The Red Wings ramped up the pressure in the second period -- outshooting the Predators by a wide 17-6 margin -- but were unable to get the puck past Ellis, who was outstanding. Ellis's best stop came on a partial breakaway on Pavel Datsyuk. Johan Franzen came close to adding a second goal on the night until his rebound chance bounced off the base of the left post.

Nashville tied the game 1-1 after Detroit was unable to clear the puck out of the defensive zone. Defenseman Greg Zanon stopped a clearing attempt and sent a shot on goal that was deflected by Jordin Tootoo between the circles and between the pads of Dominik Hasek at 17:47.

Detroit kept up the pressure in the third period and outshot Nashville 13-3 for a game total of 40-20. Zetterberg snapped the tie when Datsyuk hopped on a loose puck after a clearing attempt by Shea Weber stayed in the Nashville zone after striking a linesman. Weber chipped at the puck but had it blocked by the quick stick of Zetterberg. The puck bounced to Datsyuk, who spun and skated down into the left faceoff circle before zipping a pass across the slot to Zetterberg for the go-ahead goal.

Zetterberg iced the game when he quickly sent a shot on the empty net following a faceoff win at Nashville's blueline.

Ellis, who was outstanding in net for Nashville, turned aside 37 of 39 shots. Hasek turned aside 19 of 20 in a solid outing.