FIRST PERIOD

Highlight Reel: Paul Kariya has just taken Doug Brown’s stick in the face. Brown gets four minutes of spectator time, Kariya a mouthful of blood and then the fun begins. The first Mighty Duck power-play unit manages only one shot against Detroit’s Chris Osgood. Then the second unit takes its turn and lures the Duck penalty-killers to the left side of the ice, from which Pavel Trnka pushes the puck across the rink to Jason Marshall, whose slap shot beats Osgood and gives the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

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It’s Not in the Summary: Kariya has been taking sticks, elbows, gloves, fists and taunts for two games and decides he has had enough. Take that, Larry Murphy, who is pounded into the boards. Take that, Chris Chelios, who has been getting about what he has given in this series. The Ducks feed off their captain, Kariya, and this is the kind of fodder they have been needing.

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Winning Number: Zero. In the first two games, Detroit players have spent enough time in front of Duck goalie Guy Hebert to take root. No more. The crease has become No Man’s Land, and any Red Wing who ventures there no longer does so with impunity.

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Wrong Number: It’s 1:43, which is about how long home-ice advantage lasts. After enough “Cup Fever” lights are trained on the ice to melt it, after streamers fall from the ceiling and about 17,000 Fowl Towels are waved to exhort the Ducks, Sergei Fedorov calmly pops a shot from about 35 feet that goes over Guy Hebert’s blocker and gives Detroit a 1-0 lead. It doesn’t last, but it’s a harsh reminder that home ice isn’t going to win this thing.