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It's all even after the Red Wings finally get to Hiller

May 08, 2009|HELENE ELLIOTT

The Ducks scored in the first minute of the game, catching Detroit on a line change, but the Red Wings came in waves at a less-than-steady Hiller and built a 2-1 lead before the first period ended.

Corey Perry took a long pass from Chris Pronger and snapped the puck past Chris Osgood 42 seconds in, delighting the Ducks fans in the crowd and tying a club record for fastest goal from the start of a game. But their joy didn't last long.


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The Hossa-Filppula-Franzen line produced both goals for Detroit in the opening period. Filppula was sandwiched between two Ducks defenders when he slipped a pass back to Franzen, who rifled a 30-foot shot past the right pad of a surprised Hiller at 11:49, and Franzen tipped a Niklas Kronwall shot past Hiller with 35.4 seconds left in the period after Ducks defenseman Ryan Whitney turned the puck over along the boards.

"We knew we had to keep peppering the puck at his feet and get rebounds and second chances," Hossa said. "Tonight we just squeezed some through."

The Ducks did pull even at 11:03 of the second period. Whitney made a good play in his own zone to blunt a Detroit push, and the puck came out to Getzlaf. He had checkers on him but he made a half-turn and pushed the puck to Perry, whose quick, 35-foot shot eluded Osgood at 11:03.

Hossa put the Red Wings ahead, 3-2, at 16:02 when he took a pass from Franzen and fired it past Hiller's arm from the inner edge of the right circle.

"We had a pretty decent start, but we kind of lost our game after that," Hiller said. "We just were not good enough. We were too passive. Nobody showed their best game tonight."

Hossa made it 4-2 with another goal in the last minute of a period, while Francois Beauchemin served a needless interference penalty he took in the offensive zone. Hossa accepted a pass from Nicklas Lidstrom and unleashed a one-timer from the top of the right circle that eluded Hiller with 55.6 seconds left.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com

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