Red Wings 5, Ducks 4 (OT): Gustav Nyquist scored on the power play 1:21 into overtime as visiting Detroit rebounded after squandering a three-goal lead in the third period to knot its Western Conference first-round series with Anaheim at one game apiece.
Johan Franzen scored twice with the man advantage to extend his career postseason total to 40 goals. Damien Brunner tallied and set up two goals and Justin Abdelkader scored 48 seconds into the game for the seventh-seeded Red Wings, who return to Joe Louis Arena for Saturday's Game 3 against the Pacific Division champion Ducks.
Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri tallied nearly five minutes apart in the third period before Bobby Ryan scored his ninth career playoff goal to forge a 4-4 tie with 2:22 remaining. Saku Koivu, who set up Ryan's tally with a feed into the left faceoff circle, also scored for the second-seeded Ducks.
With Anaheim defenseman Sheldon Souray serving a slashing penalty, Detroit put an end to the chaotic contest as Valtteri Filppula used a brilliant toe-drag to create some space before issuing a backhand pass to Nyquist. The Swede made no mistake by elevating the puck past Jonas Hiller (27 saves) as the Red Wings stole home-ice advantage in the series.
Franzen tapped home a loose puck to give Detroit a 3-0 lead 64 seconds into the second session before restoring his team's three-goal advantage by skating in from behind the goal line and beating Hiller inside the far post. Getzlaf's backhander from in close trimmed the deficit to 4-2 at 7:50 of the third before Palmieri's wrist shot from the right circle sailed under the glove of Jimmy Howard (28 saves).
GAME NOTEBOOK: Detroit veteran RW Todd Bertuzzi returned to action for the first time since Feb. 7. Bertuzzi, who was sidelined with a sore back, had one shot on goal in 7:14 of ice time. ... Anaheim has scored a power-play goal in 16 consecutive postseason games. ... Detroit has converted at least once with the man advantage in three regular-season meetings and two playoff games versus the Ducks. ... Ryan, Koivu and Palmieri all finished with a goal and an assist.
Detroit | Anaheim | |
Damien Brunner 3 | Points | Saku Koivu 2 |
Johan Franzen 2 | Goals | Saku Koivu 1 |
Damien Brunner 2 | Assists | Saku Koivu 1 |
Johan Franzen 2 | Power Play Goals | Saku Koivu 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jimmy Howard .875 | Save Percentage | Jonas Hiller .844 |
Jimmy Howard 28 | Saves | Jonas Hiller 27 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Detroit | 32 | 5 | 3-6 | 4-5 | 10 | 40 |
Anaheim | 32 | 4 | 1-5 | 3-6 | 12 | 25 |