Ducks Tap Into Power

Smart, disciplined hockey and a lethal power play. Two basic concepts every NHL team strives for and the Detroit Red Wings appear to have grasped them better than most over the years.

Strangely, the Red Wings were in the mood for a bit of role reversal and the Ducks were only happy to oblige Wednesday night as they rode the strength of three power-play goals in the second period and cruised to a 4-1 victory at the Honda Center.

Ryan Getzlaf, Shane O’Brien and Chris Kunitz did the honors with the extra attacker and the Ducks rebounded from consecutive shootout losses to the New York Islanders and Dallas Stars.

In those losses, the Ducks had given up three goals to each team in the second period and had been outscored, 9-3, in the second period this season. They responded with their most complete performance to date.

“We continue to stress that we’re a work in progress,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re a group that feels we can play the game at a higher level than what we had been playing the game at. Obviously we’re happy tonight, but there’s still areas of improvement.”

Last season, the Red Wings upheld their reputation as one of the league’s most dangerous power-play teams by converting an NHL-best 22.1% of man-advantage situations.

But they’ve converted on only three of 35 opportunities this season and the Ducks are the ones doing the feasting.

In their six games, the Ducks have 10 goals on the power play, including all four of Kunitz’s team-leading goals. They’ve had four games with two or more.

“It’s a big part of the game now and we’ve worked on it quite a bit,” Getzlaf said. “We hope to have units that can do it every night. It’s not going to go every night, but a good power play can change the whole momentum of a game.”

In O’Brien’s case, it was the rookie’s first NHL goal. The defenseman also assisted on Corey Perry’s third-period goal with a big shot from the point that left a rebound for Perry to punch in.

O’Brien played three full minor-league seasons before winning a job in training camp as he took advantage of openings created when the Ducks let Ruslan Salei leave as a free agent and traded Vitaly Vishnevski.

The former eighth-round draft pick’s first goal came when he got a quick pass from Teemu Selanne and flicked a wrist shot past Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek.

“You never know if you’re going to get one,” said O’Brien, who impressed team officials with his season at Portland, Maine, last year. “My first year pro, it took until like February to get it. Obviously being in the NHL, I was just thrilled for it to go in.

“It’s a lifelong dream to get one in the show. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

The Red Wings had given up an average of 18.2 shots a game, fewest in the league. They had given up double-digit shot totals in only two of 15 periods.

After 40 minutes, the Ducks had already put 10 shots on Hasek in the first and 13 more in the second.

Getzlaf started the outburst when he made an inside move on Detroit’s Dan Cleary in the offensive zone and ripped in a wrist shot.

The frustrated Red Wings repeatedly took minor penalties and were fortunate the game wasn’t more one-sided. Selanne had a goal waved off in the first when the net was dislodged after center Andy McDonald crashed into it and bumped Hasek.

“I don’t think they were on the top of their game,” said Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who made 21 saves. “We were at the top of our game tonight. We got them to take some penalties by being aggressive. They got frustrated and started chirping at the referee.”