Ducks Trample Red Wings, Win 4-3 In SO
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Until a third-period scoring burst, the Anaheim Ducks had no answers for Pavel Datsyuk's domination.
Datsyuk controlled the stat sheet for the Detroit Red Wings until the Ducks' line of Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano finally got Anaheim going Monday night.
The Ducks rallied by scoring three goals in the third period after falling behind 2-0. They came away with a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings despite two goals from Datsyuk.
Cogliano ignited a furious surge with his goal midway through the period, setting the stage for Corey Perry and Silfverberg to score in the shootout for a third consecutive Anaheim win.
John Gibson made 35 saves for the Ducks, then stopped Tomas Tatar's shot in his first-ever shootout appearance to secure the extra point.
"We hung in," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, who won his 350th career game. "We stayed within striking distance of a team that was outplaying us pretty good in the first two periods. We got lucky and won it."
It seemed as if the Ducks would never get that chance after Datsyuk scored twice in the second period, leaving the sizable and boisterous contingent of Red Wings fans at Honda Center giddy.
With Henrik Zetterberg sidelined (possible head injury), Datsyuk picked up the slack on offense by picking off Clayton Stoner's attempt to clear the puck and scoring 3:54 into the period. He added his sixth goal in his last five games and 21st of the season three minutes later on the power play.
"Datsyuk is such a good player, and when you can control him . I know it sounds weird considering he got two goals, but when Kesler was out there he was controlling him. And that's a tough job to do," Boudreau said.
"Kesler's line was great all night. There was only one shift they didn't play against Datsyuk, and Datsyuk scored, and then he scored on the power play goal. Everything else, I thought the Kesler-Silfverberg-Cogliano line was really good."
With the Red Wings unable to extend their lead, the Ducks eventually cracked Jimmy Howard, who stopped 22 of 25 shots. After Cogliano whacked home a rebound, Emerson Etem did the same by sending the puck between Howard's legs 90 seconds later.
Francois Beauchemin put the Ducks ahead at 12:57 in the third period before Riley Sheahan tied the game with 3:49 remaining. His 10th goal came on a one-timer set up exquisitely by Gustav Nyquist.
Datsyuk hit the post on his try in the shootout, and the Ducks made the Red Wings pay for their inability to put the game away.
"We needed to just keep playing how we played in the first two periods," Datsyuk said. "I think after it was 2-0 we tried to be safe and play back. They started to shoot everything and follow the rebounds."
The Red Wings played without Zetterberg for the first time this season. He was scratched after being punched in the face by Dallas' Jamie Benn in the second period of a wild 7-6 win over the Stars on Saturday. Zetterberg leads the team with 34 assists and 49 points.
NOTES: The Red Wings continue their six-game road trip Tuesday night against the Kings. It will be the Red Wings' seventh set of back-to-back contests this season; they are 4-1-1 on the second night. . The Ducks, who have not won at home in regulation since Jan. 21, will look to snap that streak Wednesday when they host Ottawa. . The Ducks remained unbeaten on Monday this season, picking up their fourth win. . Ducks center Nate Thompson suffered a lower body injury.
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