Ducks keep it tight in 1-0 loss to Red Wings

Everything about Monday night’s game between the Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings seemed to be a test run for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Even the Red Wings, who are no stranger to postseason buildup, started their preparation by handing out white rally towels to the 20,066 fans that filled Joe Louis Arena.

Not much separates the two division title hopefuls, and that’s how the proceedings played out as Pavel Datsyuk’s second-period goal would hold up in a tightly played 1-0 victory for the Red Wings.

Both teams have clinched playoff spots, but there’s more to be had in these last two weeks of the regular season.

The Ducks (44-20-12) missed an opportunity to pad their four-point lead over San Jose and Dallas in the Pacific Division. Meanwhile, Detroit (46-19-11) pulled into a tie for first in the Central Division with Nashville as all three are eyeing the top seeding in the Western Conference.

“They’re a good hockey team,” Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. “There’s no doubt. They’re one of the better teams in the league, but so are we.... “We’re going to push forward and make a good road trip out of this.”

This was the most difficult test of a four-game excursion that has three more stops against teams that won’t make the playoffs. The Ducks played well in large stretches, but let their game slip in others and were eventually done in by the little things.

Often, they wasted potential odd-man rushes by not connecting on passes. They also failed to cash in on four power plays.

Then there was Dominik Hasek, who came up big to help Detroit stop a four-game losing streak. Hasek made 25 saves for his seventh shutout this season and 75th of his career.

“I’m sure when we look at it, there’s some execution that needed to be improved on to have success,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It’s not like the game was lopsided one way or the other.”

The winning goal itself was a story of execution, as Datsyuk won a faceoff with Ducks center Andy McDonald and drew the puck back to the point where Mathieu Schneider let loose a shot toward the net.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who had a strong 27-save performance, made the save but left a rebound in front. That’s where Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom, who was battling with defenseman Francois Beauchemin, managed to kick the puck with his skate ever so slightly back to Datsyuk.

Datsyuk quickly fished the puck out of the scrum before McDonald could get back to him and put it past Giguere.

“That’s the way you score goals in a hockey game,” Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer said. “You go to the net and draw enough attention in front and get the puck there.”

It was part of a second period in which the Ducks took their foot of the gas as Detroit kept them bottled up in its end.

“I thought we were playing pretty good and then the second period wasn’t really one we can be proud of,” Carlyle said.

The Ducks dominated play in the third but lacked any finishing touch. It was most apparent when, after getting a power play on Schneider’s tripping penalty, they pulled Giguere with 1:11 left for a six-on-four advantage but managed only one shot.

“We can take a lot of positives out of this game and use it to our advantage,” said forward Corey Perry, who had a team-high seven shots. “Every game going into the playoffs is going to be a game like this.

“We had a lapse for maybe eight or nine minutes in the second period there. Other than that, I thought we played a strong game.”

eric.stephens@latimes.com