Red Wings vs Ducks RECAP: Welcome Home

The Ducks took on the Red Wings for their season home opener, and although they started out with some nerves and sloppy play from their rookies, they finished the game strong to remain undefeated this season. Here is a period breakdown of the game:

1st Period

The first period saw action right away with the game’s first penalty 47 seconds in, as Gustav Nyquist would be called for a slash on Hampus Lindholm. The Ducks wouldn’t do much with the man advantage as they were unable to establish control in the offensive zone and were forced to dump in the puck. The power play would be cut short due to a Max Comtois hooking call with 27 seconds remaining. The Ducks’ penalty kill would remain perfect as they were able to get into passing lanes and not allow Detroit any quality opportunities.

The Ducks would have a quality chance minutes later with Cam Fowler undressing three Red Wings defenders, only to have his backhand shot deflected. Even with no official shot recorded, it was a beautiful highlight entry into the offensive zone.

Fowler would later make another great entry into the offensive zone allowing Rickard Rakell to provide a great feed to Troy Terry who tipped the puck on net, only to have Jimmy Howard swallow it up. It was a great looking play and would have been a memorable first career goal for Terry.

Moments later, Tyler Bertuzzi would receive a deep pass from Michael Rasmussen, catching both Ducks defenders and John Gibson off guard. Bertuzzi would make a great spin move and beat Gibson stick side for a Red Wings 1-0 lead.

For the remainder of the period Anaheim would have trouble moving the puck through the neutral zone with sloppy passes and numerous turnovers.

With under a minute left in the period, Detroit would receive another quality chance with Nyquist completely alone in front of Gibson. Luckily, Gibson was able to fight off the shot with his glove to maintain the one goal deficit.

2nd Period

Two minutes into the middle frame, Detroit would be called for a delay of game penalty. It wouldn't be much of a man advantage, as Fowler would be called for slashing 30 seconds later. The only 4-on-4 highlight would be a 2-on-0 breakaway created by a falling Josh Manson and terrible Ducks passing. Fortunately for the Ducks and Gibson, Andreas Athanasiou would hoist the puck over the crossbar. Detroit would continue to make a push with their short advantage, but the Ducks would survive to keep the game at 1-0.

The Ducks would get another man advantage with 13 minutes left in the period when Luke Glendenning would be called for interference. Again, the Ducks would squander their opportunity with zero quality scoring chances and the inability to cleanly control the puck.

A few minutes later, however, Anaheim would find the equalizer from the stick of Hampus Lindholm. Lindholm would do a great job of holding the puck in the zone off the boards and would patiently push up ice to make a perfect shot that found the top shelf over Howard’s glove. All tied 1-1.

Detroit would get have another breakaway chance, but Gibson would stay strong and poke check the puck away from Thomas Vanek.

The next great scoring chance would come from the Ducks as Marcus Pettersson’s shot from the point would deflect off of Jakob Silfverberg’s skate and off the far post. The crowd would hold their breath as the puck hit Howard in the back resulting in the netminder falling backwards onto the ice smothering the puck.

At 5:04 left in the period, Detroit would make another push in which Darren Helm would find his own rebound and squeeze the puck between Gibson’s legs. Gibson appeared to be interfered with as he was unable to get his stick down on the ice, but the play was never reviewed. Regardless, the result was a 2-1 Red Wings lead.

The period would come to an end with the Ducks being outshot 16-14 and trailing 2-1.

3rd Period

Both teams spent the start of the period trading possession. About halfway into the period Sam Steel would get a great opportunity with a nice backhand shot off the short-side post, but ultimately that didn’t go in. Seconds later, Silfverberg would deposit the equalizer with a great effort goal. Comtois and Adam Henrique would push into the Red Wings zone, and Henrique would have his initial shot saved, but Silfverberg would trail the play and get to the rebound. Howard was able to get a piece of it but not enough as it fluttered into the net. All tied up 2-2.

The goal would energize both sides as the physicality increased.

Troy Terry would get a solid chance with under six minutes. With Andrew Cogliano behind the Red Wings net, he would deflect a pass off the side of the cage to Terry who was robbed point blank by Howard’s glove.

The period would come to a close with a 2-2 tie. The Ducks would end the period controlling the play with a 7-1 scoring chance advantage.

Overtime

The Ducks carried their momentum from the end of the third into the extra session. Both teams would have open ice opportunities. The Ducks would have the better of the chances with Howard making a tremendous save on rookie Isac Lundestrom. Lundestrom would make a great play controlling the puck in the neutral zone and driving it up ice. Howard would make a sprawling glove save to deny Lundestrom of his first career goal. Several seconds later, Lindholm would be denied as well. Both teams were visibly gassed with both goalies coming up huge. The overtime would come to a close, and it was time for a shootout.

Shootout

The Ducks sent out the young guns in the shoot out, and it paid dividends. Troy Terry would be the only player from both sides to find the back of the net, and the Ducks finished the game in terrific fashion to improve to 3-0-0.

The Ducks will host the Arizona Coyotes Wednesday, October 10th. Puck will drop at 7PM PST.