- Game info: 7:00 pm EDT Thu May 14, 2009
- TV: VS., TSN
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP)—The previous two Stanley Cup champions are meeting in the playoffs for the third time since the NHL expanded four decades ago.
Perhaps fittingly, a Game 7 is necessary.
Series at a Glance
vs.
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Game 1: at DET
ANA 2, DET 3 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 2: at DET
ANA 4, DET 3 - Final 3OT
Recap | Box Score -
Game 3: at ANA
DET 1, ANA 2 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 4: at ANA
DET 6, ANA 3 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 5: at DET
ANA 1, DET 4 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 6: at ANA
DET 1, ANA 2 - Final
Recap | Box Score -
Game 7: at DET
ANA 3, DET 4 - Final
Recap | Box Score
The Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks have pushed their Western Conference semifinal series to the limit just as Edmonton and Calgary did in 1991 and Montreal and Boston did in 1971 in the last two matchups of Cup winners.
“It should be exciting,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said Wednesday when the team plane landed in rain on a miserable evening that matched its mood following a 2-1 loss. “Game 7s are always a lot of fun.
“It’s a good opportunity for us. We played all year to have home-ice advantage.”
The second-seeded Red Wings will face the eighth-seeded Ducks on Thursday night at home, hoping to follow a trend.
Entering Wednesday’s night’s Pittsburgh-Washington finale, home teams have won 63 percent of Game 7s since 1939.
Two of the exceptions, though, happened when the Oilers defeated the Flames in overtime and the Canadiens beat the Bruins by two goals as road teams in matchups of previous champions.
This postseason, the Ducks have proven they can win anywhere and their confidence has grown.
“Everyone is believing we can beat this team,” Anaheim star Ryan Getzlaf(notes) said.
Anaheim won Game 2 at Joe Louis Arena in triple overtime and opened the playoffs with two road wins against the top-seeded San Jose Sharks.
“Nobody expected us to beat San Jose,” Ducks forward Todd Marchant(notes) said. “We’re trying to ride the unexpected.
“Hopefully, we can pull another one off.”
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle hopes his team turns the tide in shots on goal, but said that statistic isn’t foolproof.
“They’ve gotten more shots than we have. So did San Jose,” Carlyle said. “But where is San Jose?”
The Ducks avoided elimination with a 2-1 win Tuesday night, then Scott Niedermayer(notes) roughed up Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk(notes), and Corey Perry(notes) pounded Detroit’s Brian Rafalski(notes).
“I felt that some guys took liberties on certain players unknown to fight,” Red Wings forward Daniel Cleary(notes) said. “So, we just have to see Thursday.”
With so much at stake, Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg(notes) doesn’t expect gloves to drop again.
“I think the feelings and emotions will carry over to Game 7, but I don’t think the fighting will carry over,” Zetterberg said on the eve of his first Game 7.
The winner will advance to play the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.
The loser will go home.
“I said a few words last night, and Babs said a few words,” Detroit’s soft-spoken captain Nicklas Lidstrom(notes) said. “We know what’s on the line for us, and for them.”
As experienced as Lidstrom is, with a franchise-record 224 games of postseason experience, he hasn’t played in a Game 7 since Detroit beat Colorado 7-0 in the 2002 conference finale and he’s been in just five in his career.
“Everything is on the line,” Lidstrom said. “We have play with a sense of desperation from the start, and we have to do that for 60 minutes.”
Early or late, Detroit simply needs Datsyuk to score.
The NHL MVP finalist is goalless in his last eight games and has just two assists against Anaheim.
Datsyuk was inches away from an overtime-forcing goal in the final seconds of Game 6.
“It’s not like he’s been void of chances,” Carlyle said. “Even if stat-wise he hasn’t had a huge impression, he still has quality chances on creates a lot.”
Babcock is hoping for Datsyuk and the team, his scoring drought ends against Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller(notes), whose first NHL postseason has been nothing short of sensational.
“Any time you’re scorer and you haven’t score, no matter what anybody says, you always are squeezing a little bit,” Babcock said. “The big thing for him, he’s a real good, dominant player is to just play. Don’t think too much.
“It would be a good time for him to break out.”
Team Comparison
Blog Coverage from SB Nation
Winging It In MotownInjuries
Andreas Lilja D, Johan Franzen RW, Valtteri Filppula C, Jason Williams RW, Niklas Kronwall D
Notes
Anaheim made the only roster adjustment for either team from Game 3, scratching C Petteri Nokelainen and putting Ryan Carter on the ice for the first time in the series. ... A 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit Orange County about 2 hours before game time, and an aftershock gently rocked the Pond between the first two periods. ... D Francois Beauchemin is the only other Ducks rookie to score two goals in a playoff game, doing it April 25, 2006, against Calgary.
Apr 24, 1:36 am EDT
By sweeping the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings became the first team since the 2002 Colorado Avalanche to advance past the conference quarterfinals the season after winning the Stanley Cup. Colorado made it to the conference finals in 2002 before losing to Detroit, which went on to win the championship. But the Red Wings fell to the Vancouver Canucks in the quarterfinals in 2003. Others to fail to advance were the 2004 New Jersey Devils, the 2006 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2007 Carolina Hurricanes - who did not even qualify for the playoffs - and the 2008 Anaheim Ducks. ... Detroit enjoyed success on the power play, scoring three times on six opportunities. But it was unable to stop Columbus, which went 2-for-2 with the man advantage. ... RW Marian Hossa, who scored a pair of goals, registered a game-high seven shots.
Apr 23, 11:05 pm EDT
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Here is your post just in case you forgot how "classy" you are "at least Anaheim dont stink like diapers and also you stating the ducks are thugs isnt there more crime in Detroit then Anaheim? " .....and you are saying that wings fans have no class? -----if you consider this statement to have class then you need to go back to Disney school and tell Goofy that you need a repeat!!!
For someone who has never been to detroit you sure know a lot about it...I can't say how anaheim is because I have never been there, don't care to....my welfare check won't take me that far!! Sorry that you hate us trashy people so bad...quit being a sore loser and a classless SOB who has nothing better to do than to sit on here and dwell over the fact that your team lost...I NEVER posted one time that the Wings were going to go all the way or that the wings are the best NHL or whatever else...Even the best can be beaten!! It's pathetic to hear ducks fans on here talking about how trashy detroit is and how the economy is affecting the city and blah blah blah!!!! Like I said in an earlier post, this auto crisis will effect most if not all of us who live in the US. If it hasn't affected you or your family, well that's great, but it is not something that I would wish on my worst enemy. Its not a good feeling for someone to lose their job (beyond their control) or to not know where their next dollar will come from, or how they will feed their children, or where they will live from week to week. For you to come on here and put a city down that you have never been to is completely classless of yourself!!! and for you to have a user name of "steelers suck", yeah that shows a lot of class!! I could have a name like ducks suck, but then I wouldn't have any class then now would I!??! Follow your ducks, and go home where you belong. I am sure they could use a pick-me-up right about now!!!
See ya next season Ducks, great series.....Good Luck Blackhawks.....GOOOOOOO DETROIT RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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f-ing cry babies!!!!
blame the refs!!!
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