Lidstrom Leads Wings to Victory in Game 1

Deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the third period, the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks battled for a crucial Game 1 victory. With the score still knotted up with less than one minute to play, thoughts of overtime time began running through everyone’s heads - everyone except Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom ripped a low slap shot through traffic which ricocheted off Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller. The ricochet produced a voluptuous rebound back in the direction of Lidstrom who slammed it home between the legs of Hiller to put the Wings on top 3-2 with 49.1 seconds remaining in the game. The goal was Lidstroms second of the game and 45^th of his illustrious career.

The Ducks scored first, compliments of Corey Perry, his fourth goal of the playoffs and first of the series. Just five minutes later the Red Wings struck back with a fancy top-shelf goal on the power play by Johan Franzen, assisted by none other than Nikolas Lidstrom, as well as goalie Chris Osgood. As things began heating up, the physical play increased late in the first period, which may have been a result of a controversial hit with just under ten minutes remaining. Anaheim’s Mike Brown dropped his shoulder and flattened Detroit’s Jiri Hudler in the neutral zone on a seemingly clean hit that resulted in a bloody Hudler. The hit was not late, nor was it made with ill-intent; the controversy lies within the amount of contact to the head. The NHL has placed a high level of importance on contact to the head this season due to the dangers of head injuries. Mike Brown was issued a 5 minute interference penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct. Hudler left the game with a cut on his face and did not return to the ice. Hudler is expected to play in Game 2, and the hit is under further review by the NHL.

The score remained 1-1 until the Wings went on the power play and Nikolas Lidstrom broke the tie with a howitzer from the blue line. The puck sailed over the blocker of Hiller due to solid screens in front of the net by the Wings forwards. Shortly before the end of the second period, the Ducks had the man advantage and Teemu Selanne evened the score with his second goal of the playoffs, with helpers by Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Pronger. With the score tied at 2-2 heading into the third, the rest is history with Lidstrom’s late period magic. The Red Wings kept their winning streak alive, improving to 5-0 in the playoffs this year, and 6-0 dating back to last year’s Stanley Cup finals. According to the seedings, the Red Wings have the upper hand [2 vs. 8], yet the playoffs are a setting for miraculous happenings and both teams have the experience and depth to produce a thrilling series; don’t expect a blowout series by any means. Game 2 will be in Detroit on Sunday May 3^rd at 2:00pm ET on NBC.