DETROIT—Dan Cleary has been scoring big goals at big times all postseason. His goal with 6:28 left in the first opened the scoring and got the Red Wings rolling toward their 5-0 Game Five victory Saturday night.

Cleary had the series-winning score with 3 minutes left in Game Seven against Anaheim in the second round, a key goal in the deciding game against Chicago in the conference finals and has continued to roll, scoring a career-high nine goals this postseason to go with six assists. He also is a team-best plus-18 in the playoffs.

And to think Cleary was close to not extending his career when the NHL emerged from the lockout four years ago.

The Wings gave him a shot, and the right wing hasn’t disappointed, helping the Wings win the Stanley Cup a year ago and within one win of back-to-back titles.

The 30-year-old also enjoys a standing as Newfoundland’s most famous hockey son.

A year ago, he became the first player from the Canadian province to have his name engraved on the Cup.

Of the four major U. S. sports leagues, the NHL is the only one that uses the 2-2-1-1-1 format to decide its championship.

That’s two games at home to start the series for the team with the better regular season record, followed by two at the other’s team home arena, then alternating for the remaining three games.

The NBA finals and World Series are 2-3-2 formats.

Some of the participants in this year’s Stanley Cup finals are fine with the 2-2-1-1-1.

“I like what we do in the National League. My times in the finals I think it has been real good. . . . I like the way the schedule’s set up. I think when you’re like Pittsburgh and us and you’re so close, it’s been really easy that way travel-wise,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

Penguins defenseman Hal Gill takes a more practical approach.

“There are a lot of ways to look at it, but we’ve got to win a game,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

PHOENIX—NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says four prospective buyers have filed preliminary background applications to purchase the insolvent Phoenix Coyotes and keep the team in Arizona.

The interested parties include Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of baseball’s Chicago White Sox and the NBA’s Chicago Bulls; Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon, co-owners of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League; and Las Vegas-based businessman John Breslow, who owns 3 percent of the Coyotes. The fourth buyer requested anonymity.

Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie wants to purchase the Coyotes through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, over the NHL’s objection.