Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg scored first-period goals last night, and the host Detroit Red Wings held on for a 2-1 victory against the Dallas Stars and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference final.

Stephane Robidas tied it at 1 midway through the first period, but the Stars struggled to get shots to or past Chris Osgood.

Dallas' Marty Turco made 32 saves, but he fell to 0-9-2 at Joe Louis Arena. Osgood needed to stop just 17 shots, improving to 8-0 as a starter in the playoffs this season.

The game ended in ugly fashion as Osgood used the handle of his stick to poke at Dallas' Mike Ribeiro when he skated past the net. Ribeiro then slashed Osgood across the chest from behind the net.

"Even if I did butt-end him, it was an accident," Osgood said. "I was trying to protect our best player, Nick Lidstrom, so he didn't get run."

After watching a replay, Dallas coach Dave Tippett blamed Osgood for the fracas.

"Ribeiro is actually letting up on the guy, and Osgood just sticks his stick out and butt-ends him," Tippett said. "Ribeiro is not going to turn around and chop the goalie like that without having something happening.

"I looked at it and said, 'What's he doing?' until I went in and looked at the tape."

Tippett was asked if he expected the NHL to suspend Osgood.

"That's for the higher powers to figure out," Tippett said.

Following some scuffling, Ribeiro was called for a match penalty.

Helm, the fourth-line center, got Detroit off to a good start, speeding down the left side of the ice, putting himself in perfect position to score off Jiri Hudler's cross-ice pass. Helm scored his first goal nearly two months after his NHL debut.

Robidas tied the score at 10:41 of the first period.

On the winning goal, Turco tried to push Tomas Holmstrom away just as Zetterberg blasted a shot at 15:13 of the first.

Notes

• Johan Franzen was scratched from the Detroit Red Wings' lineup for Game 2 of the Western Conference final against Dallas last night because of concussion-like symptoms, and he also is expected to miss at least Game 3 tomorrow night in Dallas. Franzen apparently has had recurring headaches dating to early in the previous series against the Colorado Rockies. Nicknamed The Mule, Franzen has scored an NHL-high 27 times since March 2, a 27-game roll that includes a league-high and franchise-record 12 goals in the postseason. ... Jacques Lemaire, who considered stepping down, announced yesterday that he will return as the Minnesota Wild's coach next season.