The Detroit Red Wings will try to bounce back from a loss in the opener of the Western Conference quarterfinals, as they visit the second-seeded Anaheim Ducks for Game 2 at Honda Center.
The Ducks, winners of this season's Pacific Division title, claimed a 3-1 triumph in Tuesday's Game 1 and will shoot for a 2-0 series' lead before the best-of-seven set shifts to Detroit for Games 3 and 4.
Teemu Selanne scored the game-winner 89 seconds into the third period, to help the Ducks get the early jump on Detroit, which is in the postseason for the 22nd straight season.
With the score locked at 1-1 late in a scoreless second stanza, Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl was whistled for delay of game after flipping the puck over the glass from his own zone with 19 seconds left in the period. The penalty proved costly, as the Ducks cashed in on the man-advantage early in the final frame.
Anaheim won a scrum behind the Detroit net and the puck squirted out to Ben Lovejoy at the left point. Lovejoy then skated into the high slot before sliding a pass to the left circle for Selanne, who rifled a one-timer that sailed high past the short-side of Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard for a 2-1 lead 1:29 into the third.
Selanne is the Ducks' all-time postseason scoring leader with 33 goals and 61 points in 78 career games. Ryan Getzlaf, who added an assist in Tuesday's win, ranks second with 18 goals and 36 assists in 63 games
Nick Bonino potted a power-play goal in the first and Francois Beauchemin added an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Ducks, who received 21 saves from Jonas Hiller.
"Everybody did what they had to do," Selanne said. "It doesn't matter if you play two minutes or 25 minutes. It was a good, solid effort, but it's just one game. We'll enjoy it a little bit, but we have to move on."
Daniel Cleary registered the lone Detroit goal, while Howard allowed two goals on 26 shots for the Red Wings, who lost Game 1 after winning their final four regular-season games to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1989-90.
"I didn't think we were great," Detroit coach Mike Babcock admitted. "I didn't think we were very good, so give them credit. We didn't play as well as we have for whatever reason."
This is the sixth playoff meeting between the Red Wings and Ducks, who met five times in the postseason from 1997-2009. Detroit has won three of the five series and beat Anaheim in seven games when the clubs last met in the 2009 conference semifinals
After the Game 1 setback, Detroit fell to 14-12 all-time against the Ducks in the postseason.
The Red Wings were 11-9-4 as the road club this season, while the Ducks compiled a 16-7-1 mark at the Honda Center.
The seventh-seeded Red Wings will host Game 3 on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.
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