SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock could have been outraged by the officiating and frustrated by the bad break that cost his team the game Sunday.

But he used neither as an excuse after his team's 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals at HP Pavilion.

The Sharks scored twice in the third period to win and lead the series 2-0 heading into Games 3 and 4 at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday and Thursday.

Red-hot Joe Pavelski scored his second power-play goal of the game during a five-on-three advantage to tie it at 4:40. Joe Thornton then capped an odd-man rush to score the game winner at 12:37 after Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom had broken his stick.

San Jose had 10 power plays to Detroit’s four. The Red Wings spent much of the third period short-handed after being penalized five times. But Babcock did not criticize the officiating, which would have resulted in a fine by the NHL. Instead, he said his players must be more disciplined.

“Any way you look at it, I don’t know who you’re going to beat short-handed 10 times,” Babcock said. “I don’t know if we were first or second as far as least-penalized team in the league during the regular season. Obviously, these last two games we got to look after our sticks.”

There was nothing Lidstrom could do about his stick after it snapped inside the Sharks blue line, resulting in a three-on-one break for the Sharks. Thornton capped it with his first goal of the playoffs, tapping in the rebound of a shot by Dany Heatley that bounced off Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard and defenseman Brian Rafalski.

“It was one of those things,” Lidstrom said. “Puck’s coming off the boards, I went to one-time it and my stick just broke in half and they were going the other way. You can’t do anything about it.”

Said Howard, who faced 45 shots: “Just bad luck, but that’s the name of the game in the playoffs. You make your breaks.”

SHARKS 4, RED WINGS 3 Key play: After Nicklas Lidstrom had broken his stick at the San Jose blue line, Joe Thornton capped a three-on-one rush by scoring his first goal of the playoffs with 7:23 remaining in the third period, snapping a 3-3 tie.



Hero: Joe Pavelski has been a goal-scoring machine in the playoffs. He has two power-play goals in each of the first two games of this series and a playoff-leading nine goals overall.



Goat: Todd Bertuzzi had no points, no shots on goal and a minus-1 rating in 13:48. He also took a holding penalty, though it was quite questionable, that started the barrage to the penalty box in the third period.



Analysis: While some of the 10 penalties the Red Wings took were questionable, others were deserved. They must be more disciplined and keep their sticks on the ice. They’re being penalized much more in the playoffs (13.9 minutes per game) compared to the regular season (8.8).

Babcock conceded it was bad luck, but added, “The way I look at it is you do good things over a long period of time and luck goes your way. It’s unfortunate. You know what, at playoff time when things go your way, you don’t think it’s good luck, you just think you’re playing well.”

The Red Wings received a bench minor for too many men on the ice with 1:06 remaining, dashing their comeback hopes.

This is the first time the Red Wings have trailed 2-0 in a series since the opening round against Anaheim in 2003. The Ducks went on to sweep that series.

Pavelski again was the star for San Jose. He has scored a pair of power-play goals in each of the two games in the series and leads all playoff scorers with nine goals, five on the power play.

Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom (power play) and Lidstrom scored for Detroit.

The trouble for the Red Wings started when Todd Bertuzzi was called for holding Marc-Edouard Vlasic behind the Sharks net. Niklas Kronwall then was penalized for hooking Pavelski, resulting in a five-on-three. Pavelski knocked in the puck from the crease during a scramble.

“They started really well,” Babcock said. “We weathered the storm and got playing good, and then I don’t know how many minutes were short-handed in the third. It got them right back in the game. And for the (second) time in the series, we get scored on with only three guys on the ice. You’re not going to win like that.”

Said Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg: “It’s tough to be two men down that long. If you kill it off, you can get some momentum on your side. But if they score, especially if you still have a minute left on the power play, it’s tough.”

Lidstrom’s goal snapped a 2-2 tie at the two-minute mark of the second period. It came while Holmstrom was screening Evgeni Nabokov and right when a penalty to Patrick Marleau expired.

Marleau, who led San Jose with 44 goals during the regular season, returned after missing the previous game because of the flu.

The Red Wings scored three times on their first nine shots.

Despite getting outshot 15-7 in the first period and spending most of it in their own zone, the Red Wings were fortunate to come out of it tied 2-2.

Holmstrom tied it at 2-2 at 13:17. Parked in front of Nabokov, he tipped in a shot from the point by Rafalski, which first deflected off Johan Franzen.

Datsyuk opened the scoring at 6:51, snapping a shot over Nabokov’s left shoulder.

The Sharks answered by scoring twice in a span of 1:31 on goals by Pavelski and Ryane Clowe to take a 2-1 lead.

The Red Wings regained momentum, but penalty problems took that away in the third period.

And now, they are faced with an uphill battle.

“The big thing is we got to make it a series. Right now, it isn’t,” Babcock said. “No. 1 priority for sure is staying out of the box. No. 2, we got to do a way better job in the faceoff circle (San Jose won 43-of-69 draws). They have the puck way too much off faceoffs.”