Anaheim 4, Detroit 3, OT
This review is…uh…under review.
And so were half of the goals the Anaheim Ducks scored last night against the Detroit Red Wings. Two of Anaheim’s goals were upheld by video replay. “Twice the puck was barely behind the goal line when they called a goal,” Dominik Hasek said. “The game could have gone both ways and unfortunately we lost.”
“Any time you lose it’s tough, especially in overtime,” said Hasek. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy this series. Unfortunately there were some bounces that didn’t go our way.”
“Our goal was to get at least one here,” Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “Now we have home ice and we have to take advantage of it.”
Anaheim outshot Detroit 33-27 and seemed to outplay the home team, particularly when special teams were not on the ice. Anaheim dominated play for the first half of the game and managed a 2-1 lead when Rob Niedermayer and Andy McDonald scored goals as power plays ended. McDonald’s goal also came after Kirk Maltby put in a short-hander for Detroit.
Penalty problems, which have haunted the Ducks all season, gave the Red Wings some life. Nicklas Lidstrom tied the score at 2-2 with a power-play goal after Rob Niedermayer’s high-sticking penalty.
The Ducks put themselves in more hot water when Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell took penalties 24 seconds apart in the final minute of the second. With a five-on-three advantage for the first 1:36 of the third, Pavel Datsyuk gave Detroit the lead.
Anaheim forward Travis Moen tied the game 3-3 with his fourth goal of the playoffs at 5:06 of the third period, a goal upheld by video replay. The puck was on top of Hasek’s pad, when his momentum carried him inside of the net along with the puck, after Moen fired a rebound from in close.
“It was somewhere under my glove,” Hasek said. “I didn’t know it was behind the goal line, so I was pretty disappointed. I don’t think the puck was in. Maybe it was, but I don’t feel that way.”
Scott Niedermayer scored at 14:17 of overtime when brother Rob Niedermayer got the puck in the right corner of the Detroit zone and dropped it to Scott, who pinched in from the right side. Scott made a move into some open space and snapped it past Hasek for his second playoff overtime winner, both in this postseason. It was also his 12th overtime goal and third in two years with the Ducks.
“This is totally different,” Scott said. “Whoever puts it in, it doesn’t matter.”
As long as the review judge in the War Room agrees. (Are they done reviewing the review yet?)
