Chris Pronger, infamous for poor impulse control and goonery in past playoffs, again stayed out of the penalty box and was strong and sure as part of a five-man unit with Niedermayer, Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry.
The Ducks also got the Red Wings, who prefer to think of themselves as cool and skillful, to lose their collective tempers. And that might be the Ducks' biggest accomplishment of all.
That's not to endorse Tuesday's post-buzzer shenanigans, which led to 10 minutes in penalties for the Red Wings and 36 minutes for the Ducks. Niedermayer, as he admitted, is no fighter. Nor is his sparring partner, Pavel Datsyuk, a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play.
But Niedermayer felt he had taken too many jabs to the head and Datsyuk took exception to an elbow from Niedermayer and there they went.
The Niedermayer-Datsyuk tussle might have been a release of frustration for Datsyuk, who led the Red Wings in scoring this season and is a finalist for the Selke (best defensive forward) and Hart (most valuable player) trophies but hasn't scored a goal in this series.
"I don't want to talk about it," Datsyuk said of his fight. "It's not my, like, style to talk about."
Detroit winger Dan Cleary claimed the Ducks "took liberties on certain players that aren't known to fight," specifically Datsyuk and defenseman Brian Rafalski. The Ducks felt the Red Wings took liberties with Niedermayer, who has absorbed more than a few cross-checks to the back of the neck and his face.
Asked if the emotions will carry over to today's game, Cleary hedged. "We'll see," he said. "We've got to be aggressive on them, got to force them to play good defense, got to be physical on Niedermayer, Getzlaf, Perry, these guys. We've got to be hard on them, got to hit them."
First, they have to catch them. The Ducks' style is to play an up-tempo game with emotion. Passion alone won't be enough for them to overcome the Red Wings' superior skill, but it has given them another chance to prolong a season that appeared nearly dead two months ago.
"Those guys are competitors," Cleary said. "It's playoffs. We're trying to battle for every inch of the ice. You've just got to want it more Thursday, that's all."
That's everything.
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helene.elliott@latimes.com
