SCOUTING REPORT

OFFENSE

The Red Wings are so skilled that an opportunity is rarely wasted, as Sergei Fedorov showed with his overtime goal that beat the Ducks on Nov. 15, taking all the time offered him to line up his shot. The Red Wings’ ability to transition from defense to offense is deadly. The Ducks are no longer a one-line team. They have had success with defensemen joining the rush this season, a dangerous thing considering how quickly the Red Wings can counter.

Edge: Red Wings

DEFENSE

The names belong to the Red Wings -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, etc. -- but the Ducks’ lunch-pail gang is younger. They are as solid a group as there is in the NHL. The Ducks set a franchise record for fewest goals allowed, 193. Only five teams allowed fewer.

Edge: Ducks

GOALTENDING

The Ducks’ Jean-Sebastien Giguere is a budding star, with a calm disposition that rides out any crisis. That said, Detroit’s Curtis Joseph has been through the playoff grind before. The Red Wings are trying to win their fourth Stanley Cup in seven seasons. If they pull it off, they’ll have won with a different goalie each time.

Edge: Red Wings

POWER PLAY

The Red Wings, with the top power play in the league, have four players who have scored at least 10 power-play goals. And that doesn’t include Lidstrom, considered the best offensive defenseman in the NHL. The Ducks went from among the league leaders on the power play in January to 16th.

Edge: Red Wings

PENALTY KILLING

The Ducks have wobbled of late, but they were second in penalty killing in the NHL this season. A perk to their skill is when they send out Paul Kariya and Petr Sykora to kill the final seconds of the penalty. Plenty of breakaway potential there.

Edge: Ducks

COACHING

Both the Ducks’ Mike Babcock and the Red Wings’ Dave Lewis are first-year coaches. But Lewis has been through the playoff run with the Red Wings as Scotty Bowman’s understudy. Tactically this is a push, but the playoff experience should help Lewis.

Edge: Red Wings

INTANGIBLES

This is just another series for the Red Wings, a starting point for a two-month journey. That should, and has, served them well when things don’t go their way. They lost the first two games to Vancouver at home in the first round last season, then won the series and the Stanley Cup.

Edge: Red Wings

PREDICTION

Red Wings in six.

-- Chris Foster