DETROIT -- After holding a 38-32 edge in faceoffs in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the San Jose Sharks, the Detroit Red Wings were dominated on the draw in

, with San Jose winning 43-of-69 faceoffs.

It is a huge point of emphasis for the Red Wings. They hope playing on their home ice at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night in Game 3 will solve the problem, since the visiting team's center must place his stick on the ice first in the faceoff circle.

"Hopefully, what happened in their building, the way the faceoffs went, we can do exactly the same thing,'' Detroit's Kris Draper said. "You've just got to go at the drop of the puck. And if you don't stop, you're going to have a lot of momentum, you're going to have motion, you're going to be a lot quicker and stronger.''

Winning the faceoff is crucial for puck possession.

"It makes it a lot easier to have the puck instead of chasing the puck for awhile,'' the Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg said. "It's a big part of the game. It's one thing we have to improve on if we want to win the series.''

Big 3 reunion pays off for Sharks

Sharks coach Todd McLellan reunited his big three forwards -- Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley -- in the third period Sunday. It paid off on Joe Thornton's winning goal.

"They played a lot (together) all year. When we needed big goals, they got them for us,'' McLellan said. "There was a lot of talk of them being shut out the first round. I thought by putting them back together it would be a challenge for them.

"In the third period, we were down one and they came through. Yet, I liked our lines the way we played them in the first two periods as well.''

History not on Red Wings' side

The Red Wings have won just 5-of-19 best-of-seven series when losing the first two games: in the semifinals against Boston in 1945 (4-3) and Chicago in 1963 (4-2), in the second round vs. Toronto in 1987 (4-3) and in the first round against Minnesota in 1992 (4-2) and Vancouver in 2002 (4-2).

The Sharks have won 3-of-4 series in which they've led 2-0. They defeated Calgary in 1995 (4-3) and beat St. Louis (4-1) and Colorado (4-2) in 2004. They lost to Edmonton in 2006 (4-2).