Red Wings dump St. Louis 4-1

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings are getting healthier -- and it shows.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice to lift the Red Wings to a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, NHL-leading Detroit's second straight win after a 1-8-2 stretch.

"It seems like we are getting the players back," Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek said. "There is more confidence in the locker room."

The Red Wings were devastated by injuries during their skid: Defenseman Niklas Kronwall already was sidelined with an injured clavicle, and he was joined by Hasek (hip flexor), forward Dan Cleary (broken jaw), and defensemen Brian Rafalski (groin), Nicklas Lidstrom (knee) and Chris Chelios (leg).

Detroit was forced to play almost three games without its top four defensemen: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall and Chelios. Kronwall and Hasek returned this past Friday, and Rafalski was back in the lineup against St. Louis on Wednesday. Rafalski even scored a goal, while Lidstrom is expected back Sunday against Nashville.

"Finally to have these two guys back, it really helps our defense," said Hasek, who made 18 saves.

Johan Franzen also scored for the Red Wings.

Erik Johnson got the goal for the Blues, who have lost seven of their last eight. Manny Legace stopped 28 shots.

"They're a good team, obviously, leading the conference," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "You have to play a better game consistently than we did."

Franzen gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead 9:48 into the second period when he put in his own rebound as he was being knocked to the ice by Blues defenseman Eric Brewer. It was his second in two games.

"I'm not used to having streaks. I hope I can keep going," Franzen said. "We're starting to find each other, me, Sammy [Mikael Samuelsson] and Hank [Henrik Zetterberg] and playing better and better."

Rafalski, who missed eight games, scored 6:11 into the third period on a wrist shot from the high slot as he was being knocked down from behind by St. Louis' David Backes. It was Rafalski's 11th goal.

"That helped," Rafalski said. "But even if I wouldn't have scored, I would have been happy with us winning."