Detroit Red Wings vs Anaheim Ducks Game 7 Recap

      Sunday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim was the site of the most exciting thing in sports, a Game 7, this one between the 2^nd seed Anaheim Ducks and the 7^th seed Detroit Red Wings.  If Detroit won they would advance to the second round to face the 1^st seed Chicago Blackhawks.  If the Ducks won they would face the San Jose Sharks in the second round. 

      The first period saw the Wings score first on a goal by Henrik Zetterberg, his third of the series, assisted by Valteri Filppula and Jakub Kindl at the 1:49 mark.  The Ducks tied the score at the 13:48 mark on a goal by Emerson Etem, his third of the round, assisted by Francois Beauchemin and Jonas Hiller.  Detroit retook the lead on an unassisted shorthanded goal by Justin Abdelkader at 16:37 of the period.  The period ended with the score 2-1 for the Wings.  Detroit was 0-2 and Anaheim was 0-1 on the powerplay.

      The second period featured a goal by Valteri Filppula assisted by Dan Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg at the 13:45 mark.  That was the only goal and the period ended with the Wings leading 3-1.  There were four penalties in the period that resulted in one powerplay for each team, but neither were able to cash in.

      The third period saw the Wings trying to hold a third period lead for the first time in the series.  After a delay of game penalty to Henrik Zetterberg at 16:14, the Ducks cashed in on a goal by Francois Beauchemin, his second of the series, assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Cam Fowler to bring the Ducks within one goal.  The Ducks pressed for the remaining 3:46, pulling their goalie at one point, but Detroit was able to hold on and earn the 3-2 victory and the 4-3 series win.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks Game 6 Recap

      The first round series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks continued on Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  The Ducks had the lead 3-2 and were looking to close out the series Friday.  Three periods were not enough to settle the contest for the third game in a row and the fourth game out of the six so far.  Detroit blew a two goal lead late but pulled it out in overtime 4-3 to force a Game 7, 10:00(EDT) Sunday in Anaheim.  Given the tenor of this series it would be no surprise if Game 7 goes into overtime as well.
      The first period saw the Ducks carrying the play in Detroit's end but Detroit scored first, on a goal by Pavel Datsyuk, his second of the playoffs, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Jonathan Ericsson.  There was only one penalty in the period, a tripping call to Ryan Getzlaf, but Detroit was unable to capitalize on the man advantage.  Detroit outshot the Ducks 11-7 in the period.
      The second period saw the Ducks tie the game at 11:31 on a goal by Kyle Palmieri, his third of the post season, assisted by Emerson Etem.  The Ducks outshot the Wings for the period 14-6 for a two period total of 21 for the Ducks and 17 for Detroit.  There were no penalties in the period. 
      The third period saw a lot of action with each team scoring twice.  Detroit scored the first two goals.  The first, a powerplay goal, after Kyle Palmieri was called for hi-sticking, scored by Henrik Zetterberg assisted by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk at 6:19.  Daniel Cleary scored his second of the playoffs at 11:30, assisted by Justin Abdelkader and Valtteri Filppula.  Filppula figured prominently in the first Ducks goal of the period, when he was going behind the Detroit net and thinking he had a trailer dropped the puck.  He did have a trailer, unfortunately it was Emerson Etem who slid the puck past Jimmy Howard for his second of the post season at 16:32.  51 seconds later it was Bobby Ryan scoring his second, assisted by Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin to tie the game.  The period ended with the Ducks outshooting the Wings 16-9 for a three period total of 37-26.  This would be the third overtime game in a row but it didn't last long.  Henrik Zetterberg was the hero scoring his second of the game assisted by Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk 1:04 into the extra frame.
      This win for the Wings sets up the most dramatic thing in sports: a Game 7. This will take place Sunday 5/11 at 10:00(EDT) at the Honda Center in Anaheim.  If that game goes into overtime it will set a NHL record for overtime games in a single series.  If the Red Wings can upset the Ducks in Game 7 then they will earn the right to advance to the second round and face the first seed Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks will play the San Jose Sharks.  If the Ducks emerge victorious then they will face the Canucks and Chicago will play the Sharks.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks Game 5 Recap

      Game 5 of the first round match-up between the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks took place Wednesday night in Anaheim.  The best of seven series was tied at two games apiece going into the contest.  The winner of the game would take a 3-2 lead and history says that 73% of the time the winner of game five will win the series, making this game very important.
      The first period saw the teams trade goal with Detroit opening the scoring on a powerplay goal by Johan Franzen, his third of the playoffs, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Damien Brunner at 5:28 of the period.  Anaheim tied the score with 2:19 left in the period on a goal by Kyle Palmieri, his second of the playoffs assisted by David Steckel.  The Ducks outshot the Wings 18-9, while Detroit was 1-2  and Anaheim was 0-2 on the powerplay in the period.
      The second period saw both teams score and had the Wings get a long powerplay.  Detroit scored first again with Mikael Samuelsson lighting the lamp assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk at 10:08.  The Ducks even the score with 32 seconds left in the period on a powerplay goal by Ryan Getzlaf, his third of the post season, assisted by Francois Beauchemin and Sheldon Souray.  The Wings outshot the Ducks 15-9 while the Ducks were 1-1 with the man advantage while detroit was 0-1 even though the had a long powerplay after Daniel Winnik was giving a major for boarding.
      The third period was scoreless with Anaheim getting five shots for a three period total of 33 and Detroit getting six for a total of 29 shots.  There were two penalties in the period with Brendan Smith and Matt Beleskey both going off for roughing at 16:53.
      The overtime did not last long with Nick Bonino scoring his third of the series assisted by Ben Lovejoy at 1:54 into the overtime period.  The Duck outshot the Wings for the game 34-31 while both teams were 1-3 on the powerplay.
      The series now shifts back to Detroit for Game Six on Friday, time to be announced, where Anaheim will try to close out the series with a victory.  If Detroit can come up victorious on Friday then the series will return to Anaheim for Game Seven on Sunday, time TBA.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks Game 3 Recap

      Game three between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks took place Saturday night at the Joe Louis Area in Detroit, both team were looking to take a two games to one lead in the best of seven first round series.  At the end of the game it was the Ducks that had the led and the Red Wings and their fans who were fuming.  The Ducks had a 4-0 victory and one the Wings top three forwards had been kicked out of the game and would be facing suspension for a hit in the second period. 
      The first period was scoreless but featured four Anaheim penalties as well as three by Detroit,  with neither team being able to cash in on the powerplay.  The Ducks outshot the Wings 13-7 in the period.  The second period was the period that turned the game in favor of the Ducks.  The game remained scoreless until the 15:11 mark when Justin Abdelkader crushed Toni Lydman coming out of the corner to the left of Jonas Hiller.  Abdelkader was called for a five minute major for charging and was also giving a game misconduct, sending him to the showers early.  The replay that I saw showed that Abdelkader stopped striding before the hit, one of the criteria for charging, it also showed that Abdelkader hit Lydman shoulder to shoulder before sliding up to make contact with the head.  As with any big hit in today's NHL this one will be looked at by League Disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan who could decide to suspend Abdelkader or not, that will be revealed Sunday.  The result of the play was a five minutes powerplay for the Ducks, who would remain on the powerplay no matter how many goals they scored.  It didn't take the Ducks long to cash in with Nick Bonino scoring assisted by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf  18 seconds after the penalty call.  The Wings were able to settle down and kill of the remaining 4:42 of the penalty which ran into the third period.  That third period was the killer for Detroit with the Ducks scoring three more goals.  The first was a shorthanded unassisted goal scored by Ryan Getzlaf 6:33, into the period, the second goal scored by Emerson Etem assisted by Teemu Selanne coming at 8:04 just 2:10 after the Getzlaf goal and a powerplay goal scored by Matt Beleskey assisted by Saku Koivu and Bobby Ryan at 13:34.  The Ducks outshout the Wings for the game 29-23 and were 2-6 on the powerplay while Detroit was 0-6 with the man advantage. 
      I just found out that Justin Abdelkader will be suspended for two games after the hit on Toni Lydman in the second period of Saturday night's game.  In a video released by Brendan Shanahan regarding the incident he stated "Abdelkader elevates at contact, turning what could have been a hard, full body check into a high, violent check with significant contact to the head that caused an injury,".  Abdelkader will miss game four Monday night in Detroit as well as game five in Anaheim.  I believe this could be a case of Shanahan handing down a punishment that was more sever then normal because he didn't want the Ducks and their fans to scream "bias" because Shanahan was a long time Red Wing player, winning three Stanley Cups with Detroit.  It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the Wings both for the perspective of who will take Abdelkader's place in the lineup and what will it mean to the rest of the team.  Will they just fold and lose the next two game or will they turn this into a rallying point and fight back to make this a series?     

1st Round Playoff Matchup for Detroit

Well, the Red Wings have extended their playoff streak to 22 years, now the question is how deep of a run can they make this year?  The opening round opponent for Detroit are the Anaheim Ducks, the second seed in the Western Conference and winner of the Pacific Division. 
      The Ducks were 30-12-6 good for 66 points.  They scored 140 goals and gave up 118 a goal differential of +22, their powerplay is working at 21.5% 4th in the NHL.  Their leading scorers are Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, Getzlaf had 15 goals 34 assists for 49 points, Perry had 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points.  The Ducks also had six other players with at least 20 points; Bobby Ryan, Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin, Andrew Cogliano and Kyle Palmieri.  The Ducks split time for their goalies with Viktor Fasth getting 25 starts and Jonas Hiller getting 26 starts, however Hiller will be the playoff goalie.  Fasth was 15-6-2 with a 2.18 GAA and a save percentage of .921, Hiller was15-6-4 with a 2.36 GAA and a save percentage of .913.
      The Red Wings were 24-16-8 good for 56 points.  They scored 124 goals and gave up 115 a differential of +9, their powerplay is creeping along at 18.4% 15th in the NHL.  Their leading scorers are Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, with Datsyuk getting 15 goals 34 assists for 49 points and Zetterberg with 11 goals 37 assists for 48 points.  The Wings also have three other players with at least 20 points; Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall and Damien Brunner.  Jimmy Howard got the bulk of the starts in goal for the Wings and will be the playoff starter.  In 42 games Howard was 21-13-7 with a 2.13 GAA and a save percentage of .923.
      If Detroit can neutralize Perry and Getzlaf and make sure that Ryan=, Koivu and Selanne don't pick up the slack.  If they can keep the puck away from Beauchemin and Sheldon Souray at the points on the powerplay.  If they can solve the Hiller riddle, get their powerplay on track and win the battles for loose pucks, then they can make it a good series, if not then they will be preparing for their move to the Eastern Conference earlier then they would like.
      Because I have bee slacking in my blog posting the first game of this series has already been played, so let's take a look at it.
      The Ducks won the contest 3-1 but that score is a little misleading.  It was tied 1-1 until 1:29 of the third period when the Ducks scored, they added an empty netter to make it 3-1.
      The game started at 10:30(EDT) in front of a crowd of 17,200 at the Pond in Anaheim.  The Wings came out flat and the Ducks dominated play in the first period.  The game remained scoreless until Jordin Tootoo was called for a cross check at the 10:24 mark.  The Ducks scored four seconds into the powerplay on a tally by Nick Bonino assisted Cam Fowler.  The Wings tied the score 5:41 later on a powerplay goal by Dan Cleary assisted by Jakub Kindl and Patrick Eaves.  The first period ended with the score tied at one.  The second period was scoreless with both teams getting two powerplay chances.  The period ended with the Ducks on the powerplay after Kindl was called for delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass.  The Duck capitalized on the powerplay with Selanne scoring 1:29 into the period, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Beleskey.  The Wings were unable to crack the armor of Duck goalie Hiller and pulled Howard for the extra attacker.  Anaheim put a exclamation point on the game when Francois Beauchemin scored assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Daniel Winnik. 
      The three stars of the game were Teemu Selanne, Jonas Hiller and Saku Koivu.  The Ducks were 2-4 on the powerplay while the Wings were 1-4 and the Ducks out shot the Wings 27-22.  The second game of the best of seven series is Thursday 5/2/13 at 9:00(EDT)