The next set of stars the Red Wings face might be even more difficult to deal with than the Dallas Stars. By finishing off Dallas in six games in the Western Conference finals, the Wings advanced to play Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Finals in a series that will have no shortage of star power or firepower.

The Penguins boast a potent trio of forwards in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa. The Wings counter with two of the best two-way players in the game in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Game 1 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

"You're looking at some absolute dynamic hockey players going head-to-head with Pav and Z," center Kris Draper said. "This is going to be fun. We know our guys are going to be unbelievable. Now it's up to all of us to step up and keep doing what we're doing."

The Red Wings reached the Cup Finals for the first time since their last title in 2002 and the fifth time in the last 13 seasons. They are 12-4 in the playoffs. The Penguins steamrolled through the Eastern Conference with a 12-2 playoff record, reaching the Cup Finals for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 1992.

The Wings have the edge in experience. They have 11 players who have combined for 24 Cups, including five (Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Tomas Holmstrom and Darren McCarty), who have played on all three recent Cup-winning clubs (1997, 1998, 2002).

RED WINGS 4, STARS 1: The Red Wings snapped out of a two-game slide in which they scored only two goals by storming the Stars' net early, scoring three unanswered goals in the first period and building a 4-0 lead less than four minutes into the second.

They got goals from two unexpected sources, Kris Draper and Dallas Drake, and two superstars, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

Draper opened the scoring at 3:46 when Dallas Drake's saucer pass hit him in the chin and bounced into the net. Draper missed most of the period getting stitched up and having braces put on three damaged teeth. Datsyuk made it 2-0 at 11:41 on the power play by flipping a rebound over Marty Turco.

Drake capped the spree at 16:17, banging in the puck from the crease after a centering pass from Brett Lebda. Zetterberg intercepted a bad pass by Brendan Morrow and scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway to make it 4-0 at 3:11 of the second period.

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