Red Wings-Ducks quick take: Wings goose the desperate Ducks

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to start a two-game winning streak at the expense of the Anaheim Ducks’ playoff hopes.

Both teams played rope-a-dope defensive hockey, but the Red Wings ended up out-grinding, out-working and out-goaltending the Ducks, winning 2-1 thanks in no small part to 32 stops from Jimmy Howard and another 20 blocked shots by a Wings defense that was peppered by the desperate Ducks.

Ultimately, Dylan Larkin’s goal on a Bieksa giveaway and Nielsen’s slapper from the slot were enough offense for the Wings to deal with a late Ducks goal (Henrique scored with only 3:54 remaining), and the Wings were excellent late, “killing off” the Ducks’ push to tie the game late in the 3rd.

The Ducks’ roster for the game was set during the morning skate, and the Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens posted said roster:

Here is the projected lineup for the Ducks:

Rickard Rakell-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano-Ryan Kesler-Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie-Adam Henrique-Ondrej Kase

Chris Wagner-Antoine Vermette-J.T. Brown

Hampus Lindholm-Josh Manson

Cam Fowler-Kevin Bieksa

Francois Beauchemin-Brandon Montour

John Gibson was slated to start opposite Jimmy Howard.

The Wings’ lineup was known as well:

There were different kinds of personnel attending the Wings game, too:

The Ducks started Ryan Kesler, Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg at forward, Brandon Montour and Cam Fowler on defense and John Gibson in goal;

The Red Wings started Darren Helm, Frans Nielsen and Justin Abdelkader at forward, Danny DeKeyser and Nick Jensen on defense and Jimmy Howard in goal.

Jean Hebert and Kevin Pollock refereed the game, with Ryan Daisy and Vaughan Rody working the lines.

The 1st period

1st period observations:

  • Nielsen drew in for the opening faceoff opposite Kesler, and Kesler won the draw to Montour, Kesler chipped the puck into the Wings’ zone and Detroit dumped and chased the other way, Anaheim re-set and entered the Wings’ zone for a minute, and ultimately Anaheim’s Kesler missed Danny DeKeyser with a heavy check, Detroit raced into the Ducks’ zone, and Nick Jensen fired the Wings’ first shot in on Gibson some 46 seconds into the 1st period.
  • Nyquist, Zetterberg and Mantha replaced the Nielsen line, and Ericsson and daley ended up battling Perry and Getzlaf, who worked the puck to the point, and Lindholm got the Ducks’ first shot 1:15 into the 1st. Howard made a kick save.
  • Anaheim cycled as Rakell worked the puck around the back of the Wings’ net, and Trevor Daley had to clear the puck off the glass and out of play.
  • Tatar, Larkin and Athanasiou then took to the ice with Green and Kronwall, they afforded Anaheim a net-front chance, and Howard made a superb set of stops to hold the fort.

Nick Ritchie punched a Wing in the post-shot scrum, so Detroit headed to the power play at 2:17.

  • Nyquist, Zetterberg, Mantha, Frk and Kronwall started the power play, and Anaheim cleared the zone once and then twice, forcing the Wings to set up from below their own goal line.
  • The Wings worked the drop pass at center to Nyquist, he entered the zone and ground out the puck down low with Mantha and Frk, and the Ducks cleared the zone;
  • Detroit changed PP units 52 seconds into the power play, and the Wings screwed up an entry, re-set, and Larkin found Abdelkader, Green and Tatar gave and went, Larkin flubbed a slap shot, and Anaheim cleared the zone.
  • Detroit re-set, but the Ducks stood the Wings up at their blueline, and 4 minutes into the 1st, with 17 seconds remaining on the PP, Green and Larkin could not enter the zone due to the use of the Datsyuk Drop Pass, which almost never works.
  • That was the power play. No shots.
  • Anaheim won the draw in the wings’ zone against Nielsen’s line, and some 5 minutes into the 1st, the Wings and Ducks were playing a relatively defensively dominant game.
  • That being said, Nick Jensen did a nice job of pinching and dropping the puck to Gustav Nyquist, whose shot wenet wide of Gibson.
  • Nyquist had some jam and he helped Mantha set up for an in-tight chance that Gibson stifled…
  • But the Ducks were dominating puck possession and pushing the puck into Detroit’s zone, so the Wings had something of an uphill battle.
  • Larkin, Athanasiou and Tatar tried to change that, working hte perimeter like a power play, and a Green pinch did not work, but it was headsy in that Green worked the backhand to skate up the left wing and dish off a smart pass into traffic.
  • When Anaheim’s Cogliano, Silfverberg and Kesler set up opposite Frk, Bertuzzi and Glendening, the Wings iced the puck twice and lost a draw against Perry and Getzlaf, forcing DeKeyser to retreat behind the Wings’ net and dump the puck down ice.
  • At 8:32, the shots were 4-2 Anaheim, attempts 8-7 Anaheim; hits 5-5; giveaways 1-0 Detroit, takeaways 0-0; blocked shots 4-1 Anaheim; faceoffs 5-2 Anaheim (29%).
  • When play resumed, Zetterberg got kicked out of a faceoff with Kesler, so Mantha lost the draw and Silfverberg and Cogliano tried to set up in the Wings’ zone once, then twice, and Cogliano skated in, Howard made a smart toe stop and the Wings took a penalty.
  • 6-on-5, the Ducks worked Perry and Getzlaf onto the ice, and Howard got LUCKY as Jakob Silfverberg hit the GOALPOST on an empty-net chance. Corey Perry also hacked the puck out of Howard’s glove and into the net, but that was waved off.

Mike Green was called for hooking at 9:32.

  • Nielsen, Helm, Daley and Ericsson set up vs. Getzlaf, Perry and company, and Howard made a TREMENDOUS splay stop with Henrique in his rease.
  • The Ducks re-set but Glendening raced up vs. Getzlaf and Fowler, and Getzlaf caught up to Glendening as he tried to break away;
  • Larkin, Abdelkader, Jensen and Ericsson worked the next PK unit, and the Ducks’ less-star-studded PP unit afforded the Ducks a couple of looks, but Howard was strong against the post, and Detroit killed the penalty.
  • HELM tried to find GREEN breaking away out of the penalty box, but Montour made a tremendous block to stifle the Wings’ passing play.
  • At 11:36, Detroit was out-shot 11-2 and out-attempted 19-7; hits 6-5 Detroit; giveaways 1-0 Detroit, takeaways 1-0 Anaheim; blocked shots 4-2 Anaheim; faceoffs 6-3 Anaheim (33%).
  • As play resumed, Anaheim’s Kase nearly deked and dangled his way through the Wings’ defense, but Kronwall and Green stood up one and then twice against Kase, and Green and Henrique got into a tussle as Green was dehelmeted, but play continued…
  • Nyquist, Mantha and Zetterberg raced up 3-on-2, but the Ducks’ defenders blocked passes on successive rushes, including one in which Larkin and Athanasiou connected for a deke-and-dangle and Jensen blasted the puck into Ducks with Gibson on his back!

Thankfully, Dylan Larkin swiped a terrible giveaway from Kevin Bieksa in the slot, and Larkin skated away with the puck, went backhand to forehand to backhand, and he roofed the puck over Gibson.

 Larkin made it 1-0 at 13:32. Unassisted.

  • The post-goal shift involved Glendening, Abdelkader and Bertuzzi working to contain the Ducks’ fourth line, and ultimately the Ducks got a shot off that Howard stopped easily from about 45 feet out.
  • Bertuzzi looked…fragile.
  • 15 minutes into the 1st, Zetterberg, Nyquist and Mantha hopped over the boards, but they had a hard go as Bieksa and the Ducks clamped down. Jonathan Ericsson did get a shot off on Gibson from some distance, but he held on as Nyquist was hacked over by Bieksa.
  • At 15:57 Detroit was out-shot 13-4 and out-attempted 22-9; hits 10-6 Detroit, giveaways 3-1 Ducks, takeaways 1-1; blocked shots 5-3 Anaheim; faceoffs 8-3 Anaheim (27%).
  • When play resumed, Kesler and the Ducks ice the puck, won their defensive zone faceoff, and Cogliano stole the puck from DeKeyser, who tripped the Ducks’ forward.

DeKeyser went for tripping at 16:25.

  • Vermette won the draw back to Lindholm, Silfverberg cycled along the perimeter, and Howard stopped the puck with his head opposite Glendening, Abdelkader, Daley and Ericsson. With Kesler standing in front of him, Howard’s teammates blocked shots and changed 44 seconds into the PK.
  • Nielsen, Abdelkader, Kronwall and Jensen set up as the Ducks worked the perimeter, and Lindholm sent a heavy shot into the slot, but Abdelkader blocked it and cleared it.
  • With 40 seconds remaining in the PP, the Ducks dumped and chased, and Henrique, Rakell and Perry swiped the puck from Jensen, and after a Ducks point shot went wide, Detroit cleared their zone.
  • That was it for the Ducks’ PP.
  • As DeKeyser came out of the penalty box, Perry and Rakell made some slick little plays down low, but Howard made a strong stop, and Detroit cleared the zone.
  • In the final minute of play, Detroit was hemmed in its defensive zone again, but DeKeyser and Howard teamed up to stop a lateral pass…And Wings fans breathed a sigh of relief as the period ended with a Howard stop on Getzlaf and a Nyquist clear.

The 1st period in summary: The Wings played serious rope-a-dope hockey as they were out-shot significantly by the Ducks, but the Wings’ defense and goaltender prevented the Ducks from finishing their chances, the PK stopped 2 Ducks PP chances, and Dylan Larkin capitalized on Bieksa turnover.

Statistically, Detroit was out-shot 15-5 and out-attempted 29-10; Detroit out-hit Anaheim 11-6; giveaways were 3-1 Anaheim, takeaways 1-1 (possession changes 4-2 Detroit); blocked shots 6-5 Detroit; faceoffs 10-4 Anaheim (29% for Detroit).

Individually, Jensen led the Wings with 2 shots, and Mantha, Ericsson and Larkin had 1; Frk led the Wings with 3 hits, and Nyquist and Helm had 2 hits; Nyquist had the Wings’ giveaway, and Helm had the Wings’ takeaway; DeKeyser blocked 2 shots, Abdelkader, Helm and Daley 1; Zetterberg, Nielsen and Larkin were all 1-and-3 in the faceoff circle, a team best 33%; the Wings were +5; Ericsson led the Wings with 7:22 played; Jensen played 7:02, DeKeyser 7:01, Larkin 6:42, Nyquist 6:37, Zetterberg 6:33, Daley 5:58.

FSD had the scoring chances at 6-2 Anaheim on their 15-5 shot advantage.

The 2nd period

2nd period observations:

  • Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler won the opening faceoff opposite Helm, Nielsen and Abdelkader, and when the Ducks negated an icing call, then rode Jensen off the puck, Anaheim set up in the Wings’ zone, and Cogliano had to be stopped by DeKeyser as the Wings dumped and changed.
  • The Larkin line attacked the Ducks on the Wings’ second shift, just under a minute into play, but they soon suurendered a rush to Corey Perry, who got two shots off on Howard. Howard made smart stops and covered up an attempt to center the puck.
  • On the subsequent shift, the Ducks jammed Howard to the point that the NHL reviewed play as Ritchie jammed the puck into Howard and the net…

The referees reviewed the play and called it no goal because Ritchie pitchforked Howard into the net.

  • One might hope that the kind of close call the Wings endured would wake them up, and for a shift, it did, with Mantha, Zetterberg and Nyquist both attacking the Ducks’ net, parrying a Ducks rush, and setting up Green for a blocked chance…
  • 2:45 into the 2nd, Athanasiou swiped the puck from the Ducks but skated into 3 Anaheim skaters, yielding an easy clear.
  • The Ducks continued to play physically and intensely, and Cogliano tripped the heck out of Jensen on a Ducks dump-in sans call…
  • Anaheim was really gobbling up pucks in the neutral zone, stifling Detroit’s transition game, so it wasn’t as if the Wings weren’t trying. They were attempting to skate through the middle of the ice with speed, but the Ducks were playing a classic Carlyle trap game, and it was working well for Anaheim.
  • Blashill engaged the line blender just under 5 minutes into the 2nd, with Glendening joining Larkin’s line.
  • 5:45 into the 2nd, Jensen and DeKeyser boobled a couple of chances that the Ducks had working the puck from below the goal line to the front of the net, but they cleaned up after themselves and cleared the zone;
  • Still, Anaheim had racked up 20 shots to Detroit’s 5.
  • At 6:30 of the 2nd period, Detroit was out-shot 20-5 and out-attempted 37-13; hits 13-9 Detroit; giveaways 4-1 Anaheim; takeaways 2-1 Detroit; blocked shots 8-7 Detroit; faceoffs 12-6 Anaheim (33%).
  • When play resumed, Glendening, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi skated together, with Daley and Ericsson working their tails off to keep the Ducks from scoring.
  • Bertuzzi stayed on the ice long, and Nielsen got a nice chance to score on John Gibson as Bertuzzi centered the puck, but Nielsen’s shot ramped off his stick high and wide of the Ducks’ net.
  • Detroit at least got a shot off when Jensen took a faceoff win from Zetterberg and blasted it into Gibson’s glove…
  • Zetterberg worked with Nyquist and Abdelkader, not Mantha, but the line change didn’t do much.
  • Tatar, Larkin and Bertuzzi skated together on the Wings’ “third line,” some 9 minutes into the 2nd, and Kronwall set up Bertuzzi for a smart pass to Green, but Green went offside.
  • The lines were shifted back to their initial configurations 10 minutes into the 2nd, and Nielsen, Helm and Abdelkader worked together after Mantha, Zetterberg and Nyquist worked the puck into the Ducks’ zone.
  • Detroit was at least earning some territorial play in the Ducks’ end of the ice…
  • Larkin swiped the puck from the Ducks again, but his centering pass did not meet Tatar or Glendening.
  • At 11:16, Detroit was out-shot 4-1 in the 2nd and 20-6 overall; attempts were 39-18 Anaheim; hits 13-13; giveaways 4-2 Ducks, takeaways 2-1 Detroit; blocked shots 9-9; faceoffs 14-9 Anaheim (39%).
  • When play resumed, Zetterberg’s line gave up a 3-on-2, but Green and Kronwall smartly stifled the Ducks’ attempts and worked the puck up to Nyquist and Zetterberg.
  • Regrettably, the Ducks were blocking Detroit’s passes and shots with aplomb, so the Wings were going nowhere, fast.
  • The game really offered little to no aesthetic appeal as the Wings trapped and the Ducks forechecked and the Wings tried to generate some offensive pressure and the Ducks backchecked.
  • Check check check.
  • 13 minutes into the 2nd, play was frickin’ dead save the Wings blocking Ducks shots and passes, skating out of their own zone, and running into Ducks backcheckers.
  • Athanasiou set up Bertuzzi and worked with Frk on the fourth line, and the trio had the Wings’ best shift of the 2nd period, with Mike Green tipping a shot that rolled through Gibson, but his defensemen bailed him out and rolled the puck back into the Ducks’ goalie.
  • At 14:44, Detroit was out-shot 4-2 in the 2nd and 20-7 overall; attempts were 42-21 Anaheim; hits 14-13 Anaheim; giveaways 4-3 Anaheim, takeaways 2-1 Detroit; blocked shots 11-10 Detroit; faceoffs 16-11 Anaheim (41%).
  • When play resumed, the Red Wings’ crowd tried hard to get the team going with a, “Let’s go Red Wings” chant, but it faded, and so did the Wings.
  • On a 3-on-2…

Gustav Nyquist raced into the Ducks’ zone off a line change, he gave and went with Mike Green, and his rebound went right to Anthony Mantha. He slid a blind drop pass into the slot, and Frans Nielsen walked into a slapper that beat Gibson on the blocker side.

 Nielsen made it 2-0 at 15:37 from Mantha and Green. Nielsen scored the Wings’ 2nd goal on the team’s 9th shot.

  • The Wings iced the puck on the post-goal shift,and Howard had to cover up a Rickard Rakell shot with Athanasiou’s “fourth line” on the ice.
  • As the 2nd period wound down, Glendening remained on the wing with Tatar and Larkin, and play remained drab as all sorts of drying paint.
  • At least Nick Jensen was playing with pace and bite, and he helped Nyquist and Zetterberg combine for the 10th shot of the game; Jensen fired one high and wide, Detroit retreated, and Zetterberg worked the backhand drag into the Ducks’ zone, just missing the net .
  • Tyler Bertuzzi fired shot 11 into Gibson’s glove with 58.2 remaining in the 2nd period.
  • Helm fired another shot in on Gibson as he, Nielsen and Abdelkader cycled, Nielsen chipped another shot in, and Ericsson stood up to a Ducks 3-on-2 in fine fashion, picking off a pass to Kesler.
  • The period concluded with the Wings skating away from the Ducks’ offensive rush and Tatar blasting a hard shot in on Gibson as time expired.

The 2nd period in summary: The Red Wings were playing classic rope-a-dope hockey and getting great goaltending, but to be honest, the Ducks were very comfortable with nursing a 1-0 deficit into the 3rd period, so it wasn’t as if the Ducks were giving Detroit the kind of bombardment that they did during the 1st period.

Statistically, Detroit out-shot Anaheim 8-5 in the 2nd, but was out-shot 21-13 overall; attempts were 44-30 Anaheim; hits 16-13 Anaheim; giveaways 6-6; takeaways 2-1 Detroit (possession changes 8-7 Detroit); blocked shots 11-10 Detroit; faceoffs 22-14 Anaheim (39% for Detroit);

Individually, Jensen led the Wings with 3 shots and 6 attempts; Green had 2 shots and 4 attempts; Frk led the Wings with 3 hits, and Nyquist, Green, Mantha and Helm had 2 hits; Nyquist had 3 giveaways; Helm and Larkin had 1 takeaway; Glendening and DeKeyser blocked 2 shots; Zetterberg’s 7-and-3 (70%) faceoff record led the Wings; Detroit was +10; Ericsson led the Wings with 15:25 played; Daley played 14:41, Larkin 13:01, DeKeyser and Jensen 12:48, Nyquist 12:40, Zetterberg 12:35, Mantha 11:48.

FSD had the scoring chances at 7-4 Anaheim on their 21-13 shot advantage.

The 3rd period

3rd period observations:

  • As rumors of a Dion Phaneuf trade to LA simmered online, Nielsen lost the opening draw to Kesler, but the Wings skated up ice, Nielsen and Jensen worked the puck in deep, and Anaheim cleared the zone but surrendered possession to Detroit.
  • Glendening remained on Larkin and Tatar’s wing, and Anaheim charged into the Wings’ zone, with Kase, Henrique and Rakell being blocked off by Ericsson and Daley.
  • Daley made a diving play to block a Kase play for Rakell…
  • And the Wings iced the puck.
  • Anaheim pressed PLAY.
  • Howard made a good stop on Perry, but Getzlaf, Vermette and Perry ground the puck out down low, and Zetterberg, Nyquist and Mantha skated away with the puck, skated up ice, and fired a blocked shot into Ducks shin pads.
  • Jensen helped Frk, Bertuzzi and Athanasiou skate into the Ducks’ zone, but Jensen was tripped, and no penalty was called.
  • So it was going to be one of those periods.
  • 3 minutes into the 3rd, the Wings were attempting stretch passes n the neutral zone, and Anaheim was rushing into Detroit’s zone with authority, so the Wings were scrambling to stifle the Ducks’ attack.
  • Howard made a good save as the Larkin line was hemmed in for a moment, and then Larkin got a shot off on Gibson via a backhander that Glendening made all sorts of messy.
  • Zetterberg set up Mantha off the draw and Green buzzed in from the point to help the Wings sustain possession, Nyquist set up on a cycle…
  • And Beauchemin stripped him of the puck and afforded the Ducks a little zone time before the Wings got back on their offensive horse.
  • So the Red Wings pressed PLAY, too, just short of 5 minutes into the 3rd.

Tyler Bertuzzi got tagged with a tripping call on Antoine Vermette, who felt stick and went down at 5:06.

  • Anaheim set up on the power play and Glendening, Larkin, Ericsson and Jensen cleared the puck, Jensen blocked a shot, and Nielsen snuck over the boards with Helm. Howard made a big stop on Fowler and Getzlaf set up Perry but Howard dragged his left toe to stop Perry…
  • Anaheim worked the perimeter with aplomb, but Fowler missed the net, Getzlaf pushed the puck offside, and with 38 seconds remaining in the PP, Detroit got a deep offensive zone faceoff…
  • Which the Wings lost, but Anaheim took a while to skate through center, and Abdelkader knocked the puck off Montour’s stick at the blueline, yielding a final rush by the Ducks that was parried away easily.
  • Henrik Zetterberg then set up Gustav Nyquist for a shot that rang off the POST;
  • Mantha blocked a shot but the Ducks persisted, and Vermette fired a shot wide of Howard;
  • Ritchie tried to wrap the puck around the net but Howard made a big stop;
  • At 8:56, Detroit was out-shot 5-3 in the 3rd and 26-16 overall; attempts 54-35 Anaheim; hits 21-17 Anaheim; giveaways 9-7 Detroit; takeaways 3-1 Detroit; blocked shots 16-12 Detroit; faceoffs 26-18 Anaheim (41%).
  • As play resumed, Helm swiped the puck off Montour’s stick (again, a giveaway for Montour) and shot the puck in on Gibson, who stopped it…

And Vermette drew another penalty, because Helm slashed Vermette in the hands trying to stop the Duck from shooting.

Helm sat at 9:21.

  • Off the hop, Larkin and Glendening pushed the puck deep into the Ducks’ zone and held it there for a couple of seconds;
  • Anaheim returned to the Wings’ zone, and Howard made a smart stop on a Getzlaf slapper with Perry standing in front of him;
  • Getzlaf fed the puck to Rakell, but he sent the puck wide…
  • Getlzaf then tried to beat Howard himself, and Howard stopped the shot and held on.
  • 1:01 into the PP, Nielsen, Abdelkader, Jensen and DeKeyser took over on the PK, lost the deep defensive zone faceoff, and Howard stopped Silfverberg before Jensen blasted the puck out of the zone.
  • Anaheim returned to the Wings’ end, Montour hit Kase with his slap shot, and Detroit blocked the Ducks’ passes, killing the penalty.
  • At 11:29, Detroit was out-shot 9-3 in the 3rd and 30-16 overall; attempts 59-36 Anaheim; hits 22-17 Anaheim; giveaways 10-7 Detroit, takeaways 4-1 Detroit; blocked shots 17-12 Detroit; faceoffs 29-18 Anaheim (38%).
  • When play resumed, Mantha and Green worked the puck into the Ducks’ zone, Detroit regrouped at center, and Mantha slid the puck into Gibson trying to find Nyquist at the side of the net.
  • Perry walked into a slap shot that Howard blockered away;
  • Bieksa wiped out Abdelkader, sans call, and Abdelkader continued up ice, working with Helm and Nielsen.
  • Larkin hopped over the boards 13 minutes into the 3rd, and his linemates helped parry away a Ducks rush.
  • Still, the Ducks were getting 3-on-2’s on a regular basis, and you wondered whether Anaheim would cash in on one of them.
  • Detroit was playing smart stick-wise, blocking Ducks passes and shots, but the Wings were getting out-skated.
  • Instead of playing like they were on a PK, the Wings surged offensively, with Nyquist and Green firing a shot wide of Gibson, Mantha blocking a shot, and Zetterberg dekeing and dangling down low in the Ducks’ zone;
  • Darren Helm and Frans Nielsen skated in on a BREAKAWAY and NIELSEN fired a backhander off the CROSSBAR;

And on a weird play, Bieksa fired a snap shot in on Howard, the puck went off Howard’s shoulder, rolled off his back and slid intot the net as Kase and Henrique pushed the puck over the line.

Henrique scored from Bieksa at 16:06.

  • Anaheim got a scoring chance on the post-goal shift as Silfverberg got held up by Ericsson sans call, trying to tuck a puck into the slot;
  • Then Daley and Green worked hard against Getzlaf and Perry, with Nielsen setting up Helm and Abdelkader for a 2-on-1 that Bieksa diffused by tripping Helm…

So Bieksa sat at 17:39, for tripping.

  • Nyquist, Abdelkader, Zetterberg, Kronwall and Green won the opening offensive zone faceoff, but they surrendered a 2-on-2 that Zetterberg came back to diffuse.
  • They worked the “Datsyuk Drop Pass” to Nyquist through center, and it worked as the Wings skated through the neutral zone with speed.
  • Detroit set up with 1:20 remaining in regulation, and Zetterberg, Green, Kronwall and Nyquist worked the perimeter, playing keep-away.
  • Anaheim swiped the puck, and Cogliano spun away, sent a puck in deep, and the Ducks pulled Gibson.
  • Anaheim was allowed to dump and chase, but Getzlaf boobled a keep-in, and Manson blasted the puck into the Wings’ zone.
  • Anaheim ground the puck out down low, but Nielsen cleared the puck down ice, and with 15 seconds remaining, Anaheim roared in, Fowler chipped a shot off bodies high and wide, Fowler’s second shot was blocked and Detroit won.

The 3rd period in summary: Both teams engaged in the 3rd period, no longer playing rope-a-dope hockey, and it turns out that the Wings out-worked, out-hustled and out-played a Ducks team that made things perilously close with a 2-1 goal…In the end, the Ducks ran out of time to tie the game, and the Wings held up very well.

Statistics:

Here’s the Game Summary…

And the Event Summary: 

The final shot attempts were 66-43 Anaheim.

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

3 thoughts on “Red Wings-Ducks quick take: Wings goose the desperate Ducks”

  1. Awful game.
    We played like crap.
    We played AA for less than 10 minutes.
    But thanks to some no-goal calls and some bad puck luck, we get a win in a game that was about as unentertaining as NHL hockey can be, and we stay just close enough to the wildcard spot to make me nervous about Holland’s intentions.

  2. In my heart I always love to see the Wings beat the Ducks but my brain wants to see a few more hard fought losses.

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