DETROIT ? The Detroit Red Wings wasted little time taking control of the game and their playoff series with the St. Louis Blues.

Steve Yzerman scored on the first shot of the game and Dominik Hasek made 35 saves as Detroit beat the Blues 3-2 Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

Detroit goalie dominik hasek, right, watches a shot by St. Louis forward Scott Mellanby, second from left, go past the post. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom (5) and Pavol Demitra (38) of St. Louis also were in on the play Saturday at Detroit.

The Red Wings have won six straight games since losing the first two games of the playoffs to Vancouver. In their 2-0 win in Game 1 against St. Louis, they scored on their second shot and managed to score even quicker in Game 2.

“It’s always easier to play with the lead and it happened in both games,” Hasek said.

Brett Hull and Robitaille put the Red Wings ahead 3-0 midway through the second.

Hasek followed up his shutout on Thursday by stopping 24 shots during the first two periods before allowing Scott Mellanby’s goal 47 seconds into the third.

Mellanby scored again with 39.1 seconds left, after St. Louis pulled its goalie, but the Blues couldn’t tie the game in the final seconds.

“He was superb,” Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said of Hasek. “He didn’t have any chance on the goals. In the first two periods, he made many, many saves.”

The Red Wings didn’t panic when they trailed the Canucks 2-0, and they’re not making plans just yet for the Western Conference finals while leading the Blues 2-0. They’re just focusing on Game 3 Tuesday night in St. Louis.

“The third game is always a big game because either you get life, or you lose a lot of life,” Robitaille said.

“For us, it’s going to be important to come out real strong.”

When Detroit leads, it can take advantage of having two Norris Trophy finalists Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios and strong two-way forwards such as Yzerman to help Hasek.

Brent Johnson made 28 saves for the Blues.

Yzerman scored 2:46 into the game after Sergei Fedorov corralled a puck that Johnson mishandled behind the net, and passed it to the front of the net to Yzerman.

Moments after St. Louis killed its second penalty, Dallas Drake put Detroit back on the power play after punching Tomas Holmstrom. Hull made St. Louis pay for the lapse of judgment 24 seconds later.

His one-timer put the Red Wings ahead 2-0 late in the opening period. Lidstrom earned the assist after he faked a slap shot from above the right circle and made a cross-ice pass to Hull below the left circle.

Hasek continued to frustrate the Blues with several saves during their power play early in the second period. When Keith Tkachuk’s shot was stopped by a kick save at the end of a flurry of shots he skated away with a grimace.

“I was maybe lucky, maybe I made good saves,” Hasek said. “Of course, they were probably frustrated.”

Detroit took a 3-0 lead midway through the second when Fredrik Olausson’s slap shot was redirected in by Robitaille.

St. Louis scored its first goal of the series when Mellanby corralled the puck behind the net and beat Hasek with a wraparound.

The Blues pulled Johnson to add an extra attacker with 2:13 left, and it led to Mellanby’s second goal.

Avalanche 8, Sharks 2

Denver Rob Blake scored twice and Colorado tied a team record for goals in a playoff game as the Avalanche evened the best-of-seven series at 1.

It was the most goals San Jose allowed in a road playoff game and one short of franchise record for any playoff game. Colorado tied a record set in 1996 when the Avalanche beat Florida 8-1 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Avalanche broke it open with four goals in the second period.

Colorado goalie Patrick Roy stopped 29 shots after allowing five goals in Game 1.

Blake, who missed Game 1 with a leg injury, scored his first goal on a one-timer over Nabokov’s left shoulder after Stephane Yelle fished a puck from between three players in the corner.

Maple Leafs 3,

Senators 2, 3OT

Toronto Gary Roberts scored 4:30 into the third overtime, giving Toronto a victory in the third-longest game in Maple Leafs history.

Getting to a loose puck off a faceoff in the Ottawa zone, Roberts fired a wrist shot between goalie Patrick Lalime’s pads to tie the Eastern Conference semifinal series 1-1.

After giving up two goals on the first four shots he faced, Lalime stopped 37 shots before allowing Roberts’ goal. The three goals were the most Lalime’s given up in a game this postseason, in which he has already tied a record with four shutouts.

Travis Green and Darcy Tucker also scored for the Maple Leafs, while goaltender Curtis Joseph had a solid game, stopping 54 shots.