PHOENIX - With all the scoring stars on the Detroit roster, the Red Wings still talk a lot about defense. They were at it again after beating the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 Wednesday night. "I thought, overall, we did a pretty good job defensively," said Brendan Shanahan, who assisted on Detroit's first two goals. "You're never going to play the perfect game, but we showed improvement, and that's what you want to do." Fredrik Olausson broke a scoreless tie with Detroit's NHL-best fifth short-handed goal, and Sergei Fedorov and Kirk Maltby had third-period goals as the Red Wings successfully avoided a two-game losing streak for the third time this season. Detroit led 3-0 before Phoenix's Brad May scored against Dominik Hasek 2:33 into the third period. It was just the 14th shot by the Coyotes, who finished with 17 after managing just three in the second period. Hasek allowed three goals on 14 shots during a 5-4 loss at Chicago on Sunday, but was back in form for the second game of the road trip. "We played a great defensive game," the six-time Vezina Trophy winner said. "They had maybe three or four chances -- I mean real chances." The Red Wings fired 22 shots at Phoenix goalie Sean Burke before Olausson scored with 6:41 left in the second period. Burke thought the Coyotes showed too much respect for the Red Wings lineup. "Obviously they've got a lot of great players, but I think as old as they are, if we could have come out and played with the energy that we've played with some other games, it could have been a different story," Burke said. Fedorov scored 55 seconds into the third, five seconds after the Coyotes held on through their second four-minute penalty kill. Maltby got loose, after a pass from Chris Chelios, for a shot from the point 38 seconds later to make it 3-0. The two Red Wings looking for points -- Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull -- were blanked. Robitaille needs one goal to become the 13th 600-goal scorer in NHL history, and Hull needs two points for 1,200 in his career, which would tie him for 32nd place. The Coyotes went one skater down when Brad May drew a double minor for high-sticking 16 seconds into the game, but survived the four-minute power play without harm. Phoenix weathered another Detroit power play late in the first period and finally got its first when Chelios tripped Krystofer Kolanos with 7:50 left in the second. But the Red Wings turned that into their advantage. Midway through the penalty kill, Shanahan picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated in and sent a crossing pass to Olausson. He skated past the point and fired a wrist shot that angled past Burke and in. "We need more goals," Phoenix right wing Shane Doan said. "Especially at home. We've got to contribute more."

The Coyotes have scored fewer than three goals in 12 games and are 0-6-0-1 when allowing three or more. ... The Red Wings are 3-0-2 against Phoenix since the last Coyotes win in the series on Jan. 31, 2000. ... Shanahan has three of Detroit's short-handed goals.