Red Wings Break Slump with 5-0 Shutout Over Anaheim Ducks: Fan Reaction

The Detroit Red Wings finally caught a break on Saturday, November 5 when they defeated the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 5-0. Detroit improves to 6-5-1 on the season while Anaheim drops to 5-6-3.

Before entering the game on Saturday, fans were left wondering if and when the bleeding would ever stop. They were losers of six in a row including a loss to the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets. The team often looked sluggish on the ice early on in games. It was not a pretty sight to witness. Fortunately they were able to turn it around on Saturday.

Jimmy Howard(notes) improved his record to 5-3-1 with his second shutout of the season. He made 22 saves on the night.

Scoring 7:04 into the first period was Niklas Kronwall(notes) with his second goal of the season. Assisting was Valtteri Filppula(notes) (6 on the year) and Johan Franzen(notes) (4).

Detroit entered the second period with a 1-0 lead, but that quickly changed when Henrik Zetterberg(notes) scored 1:55 into the period for his third goal on the year. Franzen (5) and Nicklas Lidstrom(notes) (5) were credited with the assists. Less than a minute later Lidstrom scored his fourth goal on the year with assists by Drew Miller(notes) (3) and Fabian Brunnstrom(notes) (1).

As the third period started, Detroit was already up 3-0. Only 1:39 in, Lidstrom scored yet again on a power play with assists by Pavel Datsyuk(notes) (7) and Ian White(notes) (3). Franzen added a goal of his own 10:37 into the third period, his fifth on an assist by White (4).

With the score at 5-0, it was all the Red Wings needed to break out of their six game funk and finally earn themselves a victory. Their five goals on Saturday nearly matched their six total goals scored during their six game slide. It was nice to see Detroit finally break out of their scoring slump.

"It gives the whole team that relief that we finally won a game and we scored some goals, too," Lidstrom said. "We got rewarded by going to the net and getting some goals that way. It's something that we have to build on. It's only one game, but it was a big game for us."

With a total of 50 shots on goal by the Red Wings, it is nearly a miracle the score ended as low as it did. The Red Wings were hot. It was a good thing to see as a Red Wings fan.

Next up for Detroit will be the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, November 8. In their last meeting on October 8, Detroit won 3-0 while backup goaltender Ty Conklin(notes) earned a shutout on 29 saves. Red Wings fans hope history will repeat itself so the team can slowly climb back into first place where they rightfully belong.

More Detroit Red Wings Commentary from this Contributor:

Red Wings fall to Wild on Setoguchi's OT goal: A fan's reaction

Red Wings continue slide in loss to Wild: A fan's reaction

Red Wings drop third straight in loss to San Jose: A fan's reaction

Sources:

All stats provided by NHL.com

Associated Press - Red Wings snap 6-same skid, beat Ducks 5-0

Paul Rados is an avid Detroit Red Wings fan and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook. For a complete look at his freelance work please visit his Blog.

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