Red Wings-Ducks wrap-up: shootout loss leaves Wings winless during young season

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night, and the Wings return home for a single game (vs. Toronto on Thursday) before heading back on the road for 4 games (@Boston, @Montreal, @Tampa Bay, @Florida) spanning the middle of the month.

We should know much more about the now 0-1-and-2 Red Wings come October 22nd (when the Wings host Carolina) than we do now, but initial impressions suggest that this young-by-necessity Red Wings team is fleet of foot, smart with the puck, but prone to the kinds of mistakes and “teachable moments” that result in goals against.

Detroit will get no sympathy from the Ducks, either, as Anaheim celebrated its 25th anniversary with 6 rookies to Detroit’s 6, as the Orange County Register’s Elliott Teaford noted:

Battered and bruised though they may be, the youthful Ducks also are 3-0-0 for the first time since 2006-07, when they started the season 12-0-4 en route to the franchise’s only Stanley Cup championship. That team and the current one also would appear to have nothing in common.

“Obviously, it’s going to take a few games before they feel 100 percent comfortable, but so far, they’re doing a great job of playing with a little extra jump and swagger in their game,” Lindholm said of the rookies. “That’s what they need to do. They can’t be afraid of playing hockey.”

Much of the Ducks’ star-power stood behind the bench during the pregame introductions, dressed in expensive suits and smiling and waving sheepishly to the rousing cheers of a standing-room-only sellout crowd of 17,436 for the home opener.

There stood right wings Patrick Eaves (shoulder), Corey Perry (knee) and Ondrej Kase (concussion). There stood centers Ryan Getzlaf (lower-body injury) and Ryan Kesler (hip). The Ducks’ injured forwards soon retreated to the dressing room as the rest of the squad was introduced.

The Junior Ducks then took over, showing patience and poise beyond their years.

As AnaheimDucks.com’s Adam Brady noted, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle isn’t the biggest fan of youth-movement-by-necessity, but things worked out for the Ducks on Monday night:

“This is baptism by fire for young players,” said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. “We have our ample share of them in the lineup, but these are situations hopefully where they can grow and get more confidence. Hats off to them. We put them in situations historically they would play in lower levels. This is the best league in the world. They were in there and survived, so hopefully they feel good about themselves.”

During the game the Ducks wore their new 25th anniversary adidas third jerseys, the first of 15 times this year they will sport the sweaters, which honor the team’s heritage with the old Mighty Ducks logo and a color scheme of black, teal and purple.

Wearing those jerseys for the ceremonial puck drop were current Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli, former Disney CEO and Mighty Ducks governor Michael Eisner, original Mighty Ducks goalie Guy Hebert and Sean Hill, who scored the first goal in Ducks history on that October 8 night in ’93.

Twenty-five years later, it was another defenseman who got Anaheim’s first goal, as Lindholm fired a shot from the left wing that ticked off Detroit center Dylan Larkin’s stick and tickled the twine. That tied the game 1-1 almost halfway through the second period, as the Ducks had fallen behind on a Tyler Bertuzzi spin move and goal 11 minutes into the game.

Just four minutes after the Lindholm strike, Darren Helm put the Red Wings back on top by beating John Gibson between the pads.

Jakob Silfverberg brought the crowd back to life with 11:31 left in the game by pouncing on a rebound and forcing it over Howard to tie the game and ultimately send it to OT.

Overtime wouldn’t produce a suitable result, so the teams went to the shootout, where Troy Terry delivered. The Los Angeles Times’ Mike Coppinger spoke with Terry about his shootout winner:

Troy Terry, one of six rookies in the lineup, fired the game-winning goal through Jimmy Howard’s five hole; John Gibson was perfect on the other end to ensure the Ducks remained undefeated through three games.

The 21-year-old established himself as a weapon in the skills competition during Team USA’s run in the World Junior Championships last year, so coach Randy Carlyle didn’t hesitate to call Terry’s No. 61.

“Every game I’ve started to feel more and more comfortable,” said Terry, who’s already playing on the Ducks’ top line on the left side. “I think tonight I kind of took on defenders more and that’s kind of what I was good at — using my speed and my stick skills to attack defenders.”

“It feels good to do those things that you usually do and kind of have them work at this level. It puts confidence in you.”

One might argue that the Ducks managed to tie a game that they trailed 1-0 and 2-1 because the Red Wings began to tire on the back half of their first back-to-back slate of games this season, and Jakob Silfverberg might agree, as he told NHL.com’s Dan Arritt:

Silfverberg tied the game 2-2 at 8:29 of the third period. After Howard made the initial save on Adam Henrique, Silfverberg shot the rebound off Howard’s pad, and the puck bounced off Silfverberg and into the net.

“We didn’t create as much offense as we wanted to, but in the third you could see us moving our legs a lot more,” said Silfverberg, who has five points (one goal, four assists). “Obviously, the goal was a lucky break, but if you go to those areas, every once in a while you get lucky like that.”

Helm gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 14:56 of the second period. His shot off the rush was blocked by Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour, but Helm sent the puck back toward the net with a backhand, and it skidded between Gibson’s pads.

“We scored and I thought we were probably better through most of [the first] period and then through the second period,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we had big-time chances that their goalie made real big saves.”

Coach Carlyle concurred:

“He’s been our MVP for the three games,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said of Gibson, who has made the save on 91 of 95 shots he’s faced in the three wins.

The Associated Press’s recap will serve as our pivot point between the Ducks and Red Wings’ perspectives:

Tyler Bertuzzi and Darren Helm scored and Howard stopped 24 shots for the Red Wings, who are winless in their first three games. Detroit couldn’t hold two leads in a game between two young rosters getting NHL experience on the fly.

“I think we’re just going to stay the course,” forward Gustav Nyquist said. “We have liked the way we played, especially the first two games. Today we could be a little better with the puck, but overall we are going to be fine in here if we keep competing the way we are.”

Exactly 25 years to the day after the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim debuted at Honda Center against the Red Wings, the teams met again in the Ducks’ home opener. Detroit spoiled the Mighty Ducks’ debut on Oct. 8, 1993, with a 7-2 victory.

After starting this season with two road victories despite an injury-depleted roster, Anaheim finally opened its anniversary season at Honda Center, the Ducks’ home for their entire existence — and much better known to hockey fans as the Pond.

But captain Ryan Getzlaf, NHL MVP Corey Perry, Selke Trophy winner Ryan Kesler and goal-scoring forwards Patrick Eaves and Ondrej Kase all missed the home opener due to injury, while power forward Nick Ritchie is still a contract holdout.

“They are finding ways to win right now without their big guys in the lineup,” Howard said of the Ducks.

Six rookies were in the Ducks’ starting lineup, underlining Anaheim’s commitment to use its ample young talent this season.

“We put them in situations historically they would play in lower levels,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. “This is the best league in the world. They were in there and survived, so hopefully they feel good about themselves.”

The Red Wings expressed some dissatisfaction with their play to DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji:

Quotable: “Today I thought wasn’t as good as yesterday. I thought we had a good game yesterday, we could have scored lots of goals. Their goalie was good yesterday, but today we were a little careless with the puck. I thought it was too many turnovers, especially on their blue line. We got to make sure we get that puck deep and try to create some offense from there, a little longer zone time, tire them out aa little bit. I think that’s the key for us to score more.” — Nyquist

Quotable II: “It’s hard to win at two goals a game for sure. We’re creating chances. We got to take advantage of our chances. Partially, we got to shoot the puck when we got opportunities to score. We’re passing up on real good chances to try to create a better one. We got to forget that, we got to shoot the puck when we have those opportunities.” — Blashill

Among the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s “Five Takeaways“:

3. Keeping his head: Rasmussen, incidentally, looked a little better adjusted to the speed of the NHL in this game.

In the first two games, there was a tendency for Rasmussen to rush the play, make a quick pass or immediately shoot the puck instead of taking that extra split-second.

There was sense Rasmussen slowed the game down, and in turn, he was more noticeable on the ice, including earning his first NHL point on the Bertuzzi goal.

4. Swede finesse: Same with Christoffer Ehn, who had his best game of the young season.

Ehn played more than 15 minutes, and his line with Helm and Luke Glendening produced a goal (Helm) and were a thorn for Anaheim throughout the night.

Ehn, 22, could turn out to be a nice find for the Wings. The fact he played pro in Sweden is apparent, he knows what he’s doing on the ice.

Ehn is better defensively right now, but he displayed some offense in Sweden and could develop that here over time.

The Ducks’ website’s “Postgame notes and quotes” actually offers some Red Wings commentary, so the Ducks will take us out:

Jimmy Howard

On the first three games of the season: Well, the first one we obviously battled and competed. Last night, I thought we pretty much came to play for most of the night. Tonight, for two periods, once again I thought we came to play and they got a fortunate bounce there for the second one and they were able to win the skills competition.

On the biggest difference in Anaheim’s play with the big guys being out of the lineup: You know, with Getzlaf, he is such a skilled passer and offensive player. Perry, is an absolute pest in front of the net. It seems like he gets his stick on everything. Kesler is one of the premiere two-way guys in the game. They are finding ways to win right now without their big guys in the lineup.

Head Coach Jeff Blashill

On Jimmy Howard’s play: I thought the game had lots of ebbs and flows. I thought they came out early and had a little better of us. We scored and I thought we were probably better through most of that period and then through the second period. I thought we had big time chances that their goalie made real big saves on. Once they scored, they pushed hard and I thought Jimmy played real good. I thought both goalies were real good tonight, had to be excellent and making big saves in big moments.

On Detroit’s first three games: We know it is going to be tight every night. We certainly feel we can score more than we have, as I said, through just some simple stuff. Mainly shoot when we have those opportunities to. I thought we competed. I thought we worked the last two nights better than we did against Columbus. We need to make sure we carry that forward when we come home against Toronto.

Multimedia:

Highlights: Sportsnet posted a 4:577 highlight clip: