Red Wings Still Have Means to Power Past the Ducks, 3-1

The Mighty Ducks spent two days hiding the truth about right winger Teemu Selanne’s bruised left knee. But they couldn’t hide the truth about their many shortcomings on the ice from the Detroit Red Wings or an announced crowd of 15,761 on Wednesday at the Arrowhead Pond.

The Ducks misled reporters about the reasons for Selanne’s absence from practice Monday and Tuesday before finally admitting the true nature of his injury Wednesday morning.

But there was no way the team could mislead anyone about its lackluster showing in a 3-1 loss to the scalding Red Wings. The Ducks, last in the Western Conference standings, gave up three power-play goals and suffered their third consecutive loss.

Detroit, unbeaten in 12 consecutive (10-0-2), vaulted over the St. Louis Blues into first place in the Central Division. The Red Wings also are second overall in the Western Conference, trailing the Colorado Avalanche by a mere three points.

Detroit played without forwards Sergei Fedorov (broken nose) and Vyacheslav Kozlov (sore neck and back) and defenseman Larry Murphy (heel spur).

So things were about as even as they possibly could be.

After two days of saying Selanne was “under the weather,” the Ducks changed their story Wednesday. Suddenly, he was suffering from a bruised knee and required an MRI exam. He didn’t play Wednesday, but General Manager Pierre Gauthier said he might be fit to skate Friday against the Dallas Stars.

“We knew he was doubtful as of [Tuesday],” Coach Guy Charron said. “We knew his knee wasn’t reacting well.” Despite repeated requests to speak to him, Selanne was unavailable for comment for the third consecutive day.

Playing without Selanne, their leading scorer with 25 goals and 56 points, the Ducks held their own against the Red Wings while skating at even strength.

Charron juggled his line combinations, moving right wing Marty McInnis into Selanne’s spot on the top line. Charron also dropped center Matt Cullen from the second line to the fourth line and promoted Samuel Pahlsson from the third line to the second.

But the Ducks’ steady march to the penalty box doomed them to defeat for the fourth consecutive game against Detroit. The Ducks suffered three one-goal losses to the Red Wings earlier this season.

Steve Duchesne, in the first period, and Igor Larionov and Pat Verbeek, in the third, scored power-play goals for the Red Wings. The Ducks took seven minor penalties by game’s end, which was roughly seven too many.

The Ducks gave the Red Wings every chance to turn the game into a runaway in the opening minutes, marching to the penalty box as if their were candy stashed in there.

Defenseman A.J. Niemi went off for slashing 1:12 into the game. Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski took a double high-sticking penalty at 3:07. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere was whistled for holding the stick of Detroit pest Tomas Holmstrom at 3:15.

Holmstrom seemed to be guilty of hanging onto Giguere’s equipment, but referees Brad Watson and Shane Heyer didn’t see it that way.

Detroit capitalized on the ensuing five-on-three advantage, Duchesne whipping a quick shot from the right faceoff circle by Giguere at 4:32. In the final period, Larionov and Verbeek converted while the Red Wings were on power plays.

German Titov’s first goal since Jan. 3 ended Detroit goalie Manny Legace’s shutout bid with 10 seconds left in the game.