SELLOUT CAN'T HELP HAWKS

Chris Osgood is giving the Detroit Red Wings quite a 1-2 punch in goal.

Robert Lang scored in the third period and Osgood made 23 saves to lead Detroit to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of 20,658, the first sellout of the season, Saturday night.

After becoming the first NHL goalie to win 10 games in October on Thursday night, No. 1 goalie Manny Legace got his first night off of the season. Osgood was tested early when Curtis Brown passed through the Detroit defense for a shot that Osgood saved.

Kirk Maltby and Mikael Samuelsson also scored goals for the Red Wings, who are off to their best start in franchise history at 11-1. It is the best opening in the NHL since the Pittsburgh Penguins began the 1994-95 season with a 11-0-1 record. The Red Wings are 6-0 on the road.

Osgood, played six seasons with Detroit before the Red Wings waived him before the 2001-02 season. Detroit re-signed Osgood in August to a $900,000 contract to compete with Legace.

"I'm hoping I can play as good as he can, offset him and give this team the best goaltending they've had in years. That's our goal," Osgood said.

He was sent to the minors on Oct. 18 for conditioning after missing the start of the season with a groin injury. Osgood returned on Oct. 23 from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

"I'm definitely fired up when I'm wearing a Red Wings jersey. It beats the Grand Rapids one," Osgood said.

The Hawks missed a chance to tie the game at 3 with under two minutes to play when Matthew Barnaby's shot went off the left post.

Lang scored an unassisted goal for Detroit from the right circle with 15:21 left in the third period to break a 2-2 tie.

Henrik Zetterberg added an empty-net goal with 27 seconds left to complete the scoring.

"We've got 22 points in October, that's a big deal. The great thing about getting those points is you have them now," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I was impressed with our team, I thought we played really well tonight."

Tyler Arnason and Kyle Calder scored goals for the Hawks (3-8).

"We hit a post. When you go through things like we are going through right now it kind of becomes more visible," Hawks coach Trent Yawney said.

It was the second of three consecutive games between the teams. Detroit beat the Blackhawks 5-2 on Thursday in Detroit. They meet again in Detroit on Tuesday.

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