Ducks vs. Red Wings, round 2 game 1

I had to drive, once again, to my parents' house to see this one. Darn Versus. Please bear with me through sketchy posting...

Catching up real fast here, our Ducks get the first goal... a nice one by Corey Perry with Ryan Getzlaf assisting. And then, a low point when Mike Brown leaves a Wing bloody on the ice after a check which, apparently, involved the player after he'd passed the puck.

A five-minute interference major resulted, including a game misconduct, with Brown off the ice for 5 minutes and the Wings capitalizing only once in that five.

At the end of the period, we're tied 1-1.

The damage has yet to be fully assessed because Brown could, very likely, get a multiple-game suspension for his hit. It's the kind of hit that the league is trying to eliminate from the game. Although, I sometimes wonder how anyone can judge intent in a hit that happens so frickin' fast... I mean, what if the recipient just wasn't paying attention?

*sigh*

I think the penalty completely changed the momentum and energy of our Ducks. The second period has both teams experiencing trouble effectively penetrating each other's zones. A fight breaks out behind the Wings' net after the whistle blows, Perry and Ericsson exchanging punches.

Ugh. Not good having Perry out and not putting shots on net for seven minutes total here. Somehow, I think the Wings think less about having their man out for seven minutes.

I have to say our boys are doing a good job staying out of the sinbin so far. The Wings give our boys a power play scoring opportunity off of an interference call, but no fruit on that one.

Soon after, a tripping penalty on Frankie Beauchemin. What was I saying about penalties? Argh. This one, the Wings manage to score. Not only do I not like them taking the lead, I'm also a bit peeved that Holstrom makes this goal after practically steamrolling Jonas Hiller inside his own net. Our precious goalie gets smacked so hard that his mask comes clean off.

Not even a video review for a potential goalie interference call.

I hope our boys don't feel as down as I do right now.

Teemu Selanne follows Chris Pronger's first period example and rings the post.

Ack, another penalty... George Parros accidentally chips the puck over the glass and gets two for delay of game. Soon after, Holstrom gets two for checking Pronger. And hey, if you can push a 6-foot 6-inch defenseman down onto the ice, that would have to be some push. And then a tripping penalty against Franzen. We're 4-on-3 now, hopefully our boys can capitalize.

They do! It's Selanne with a wrister from the left circle. The second period ends with the game tied up, 2-2.

The third starts with the end of the Ducks power play, no goals, but a helluva breakaway attempt as Franzen gets out of the box. Hiller proves sharp, not falling for any of the fakes and deke moves Franzen attempts on his path to the front of the net. Todd Marchant takes a penalty soon after, and the Wings get another opportunity to take the lead. No goals.

Our boys have to kill yet ANOTHER penalty when James Wisniewski gets two for hooking. Thank god for Marchant in the faceoff circle. He seems to be the only Duck with any success at the hashmarks tonight. If you let the Wings get possession of the puck on those power plays, they are very hard to stop. This penalty is killed off without any goals.

The third period is getting chippy, with guys taking penalties at nearly every whistle. I can tell you this is going to be a far more dirty and intense series than the one the Ducks played against the San Jose Sharks.

With less than a minute on the clock and it's still tied 2-2, I'm pretty much counting on overtime. Until, with 49 seconds left on the clock, the Ducks fail to clear a rebound off Hiller. Lidstrom capitalizes and slams the rebound between Hiller's pads. I saw it happening right before it did.

I was left with a very bad feeling after this game ended. This is going to be a very dirty series, and not in a good way. Our Ducks didn't start off as well as they possibly could have, especially after the Brown penalty. Well, that's okay, guys. Regroup and win on Sunday, and I'll forgive you.