from detroit
The shot that should be remembered is Nicklas Lidstrom's pouncing on his own rebound, miraculously alone in a shifting sea of bodies, and rifling the puck past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller with 49.1 seconds left in the third period to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory Friday in the opener of the teams' second-round playoff series.
The shot that will resonate for the remainder of this matchup between the last two Stanley Cup champions is Mike Brown's first-period hit on Detroit's Jiri Hudler, which left Hudler bleeding profusely from his forehead and the Red Wings furious over an infraction they believe merited more than the five-minute penalty and game misconduct Brown got.
As fierce as the battles were along the boards and in front of Hiller and Chris Osgood -- and those tussles were relentless -- the postgame verbal volleying was hotter. The NHL might add a suspension to Brown's tab -- which includes the power-play goal the Red Wings scored during that advantage -- and that can't happen soon enough to please the Red Wings.
Hudler, who missed a chunk of the first period to get stitches above his left eyebrow and questioned whether he'd be able to play in Game 2 here Sunday, said the hit came well after he had released the puck.
"He's so far away," the Czech center said. "So you don't honestly think about a guy . . . we're playing hockey and it's playoff hockey."
Coach Mike Babcock was more emphatic.
"It was a vicious, dirty hit," Babcock said. "The league's got to decide. The league and the players' association are big on protecting guys' heads, so I'm going to be like you and watch and see."
Hold on, said Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle. "Physical contact is allowed. We timed the hit from the time he passed the puck . . . there wasn't a second that went off the clock."
He also contended Brown hit Hudler legally, with a shoulder. "Hudler was admiring his pass," Carlyle said. "They can say all they want about a dirty hit. That wasn't a dirty hit. You're allowed to take the body in this game."
Brown also said it was a clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit. Referees Kelly Sutherland and Marc Joannette called it interference, a curious call.
"I was just playing physical and taking the body. I don't know if he was in a vulnerable position or not, but I was just taking the body," Brown said. "I think his visor might have hit him in the head.
