Ducks need to adjust to Red Wings’ depth

From what Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle was saying Saturday, it didn’t matter so much that the Red Wings juggled their lines in Game 4 to put Marian Hossa with Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula, forming an explosive trio that produced four goals and seven points in a series-tying victory.

As Carlyle saw it, the Red Wings could have sent out Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe -- average age over 80, though Lindsay probably still throws a mean elbow -- and might have won because the Ducks were so woeful defensively, especially around their net.

That’s not an insult to Hossa, a dynamic winger who’s so intent on winning the Stanley Cup that he took less money last summer to play in Detroit than he might have gotten elsewhere.

“No matter who they put together, we know they have world-class players to put in and out in those situations,” Carlyle said Saturday.

The Ducks’ problem is that the Red Wings’ superior skill and depth, unrealized in the early going, have come to the forefront as the series has progressed, putting Detroit in position to seize control when the series resumes today at Joe Louis Arena.

Seeing Hossa on the so-called second line and Pavel Datsyuk reunited with sometime linemate Henrik Zetterberg and abrasive winger Tomas Holmstrom wasn’t a surprise to the Ducks. It just turned out to be an unpleasant sight.

“It just gives them a different look and maybe gave them that spark last game to start getting them on the board,” Ducks center Andrew Ebbett said.

If that was the start of something big for the Red Wings, the Ducks will have their hands full today and in Game 6 in Anaheim on Tuesday. A seventh game, if necessary, will be played next Thursday in Detroit.

The Ducks were outshot, outhit and outplayed for most of the first three games but won twice because of a power play that capitalized on its rare chances, staunch defense and Jonas Hiller’s unassailable goaltending. A quick whistle by referee Brad Watson on Hossa’s apparent tying goal in Game 3 helped too.

That luck and those strengths outweighed the Ducks’ shortcomings until late in Game 3, when Detroit began producing waves of quality chances. After a slow start in Game 4, Coach Mike Babcock mixed his lines and the Ducks began making errors in coverage and judgment. The timing could be coincidental -- or connected.

Hiller looked vulnerable on several shots, but Carlyle blamed him only for Franzen’s first goal. He said he pulled Hiller and replaced him with Jean-Sebastien Giguere at 2:46 of the third period because “it wasn’t warranted that he continue to play,” and because he wanted Giguere to get some playing time.

“If we decide to go in that direction he’s not coming in cold,” Carlyle said, refusing to identify which goalie will start -- and, for good measure, displaying his usual charm in declaring that it’s not the media’s business to know.

It’s likely, though, to be Hiller. He’s the guy who carried them this far. His defense will have to help him now if the Ducks are to keep going.

“We didn’t have good enough coverage. There was too much space for Hossa,” Carlyle said.

“You give quality players the number of chances we gave up in that game, where he scored the goals from were basically areas that were critical in coverage and we weren’t there. We’ve got to be better in our coverage of those players in that area.

“We could have done some things differently, but we expected their will to be at the highest level, and they provided that.”

That means the Ducks’ will must be stronger. And even that might not be enough.

The biggest plus for them is the possible return of rugged defenseman James Wisniewski, who missed Game 4 while recovering from the bruised lung he suffered Tuesday when he was hit in the chest by a shot.

He practiced all-out Saturday, staying on the ice after most of his teammates exited, and afterward pronounced his chances of playing today as 50-50. “I feel real good, but we’ll see how things go overnight,” said Wisniewski, who will be examined by team doctor Craig Milhouse today.

“I had no pain at all. I was maybe just a little short of breath, but I hadn’t skated in five days. I rode the bike fine, and everything. I’m pretty happy. I bounced back quick.”

The Ducks can only hope they will do the same today.

They have no choice.

“It’s definitely a big game, a must win,” center Ryan Getzlaf said. “We’re playing a team that if we get behind in this series it can be a long way to catch up.

“So that’s going to be our focus, to try and steal one and go back home.”

If they lose, they’ll face the end of their season. They weren’t expected to make the playoffs or beat San Jose in the first round. Having done that, they’re not ready to go out yet.

“We have to play better. There’s no secrets,” Teemu Selanne said.

“They were better. We were not that hungry that we were expecting to be and that’s got to change.”

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helene.elliott@latimes.com

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NHL playoffs

DUCKS VS. DETROIT

GAME 5 -- TODAY

Best-of-seven series tied, 2-2

at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena

2 p.m. PDT, FS West