All Wings, no prayer

If this was the Ducks’ idea of seizing control in the Western Conference finals, their performance in Game 3 looked more like one collective brain cramp.

Their follow-up to a thrilling overtime win in Detroit was a total embarrassment Tuesday night as the Red Wings rolled to a 5-0 victory in handing the Ducks their worst playoff loss in franchise history.

As a bewildered overflow crowd of 17,358 at the Honda Center watched in astonishment, the Ducks fell behind in the first period and came unglued thereafter. And they may now face the possibility of playing Game 4 on Thursday without Chris Pronger and Rob Niedermayer.

“If you play enough, I guess it’s going to happen,” Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer said. “It’s really disappointing in a conference final. It’s a big game coming home here. Needless to say, we’re pretty upset, pretty disappointed.”

The availability of defenseman Pronger and left wing Rob Niedermayer could come into question if the NHL decides their crunching hit on Detroit winger Tomas Holmstrom in the second period deserves a suspension.

Pronger initially drove Holmstrom into the glass and Niedermayer followed with a hit on the other side. Niedermayer received a major boarding penalty, which called for an automatic game misconduct.

Afterward, Rob Niedermayer expressed shock at his ejection.

“All I did was take a couple of strides and just finished my check,” he said. “You don’t want to see anybody hurt out there for sure. I hit him with my shoulder. I was surprised. I’m just happy that he’s back playing.”

Pronger, asked if he expected to be disciplined for the hit, said “no.” Holmstrom needed 13 stitches to close two cuts on his forehead. But he’s dished out his own pain on the Ducks, as he also did with the winning goal in Game 1.

The target of nasty hits all night, Holmstrom responded by scoring two goals and assisting on another. Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula joined in the fun with goals, and Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom each had two assists.

It made for a relatively stress-free evening for Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek, who stopped 29 shots for his 14th career playoff shutout.

“After we scored the fourth goal, they sort of gave up,” Hasek said.

The Ducks were a mess. They took 11 penalties and allowed the Red Wings nine advantages; they managed to convert one for their fifth power-play goal in the series.

Most of the penalties came in the second, when the Ducks’ game fell apart after defensive-zone blunders had led to goals by Franzen and Holmstrom in the first.

“Obviously, our frustration level got up there and we didn’t show the necessary discipline that’s required,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It just seemed to have a snowball effect.”

It all added up to a loss that surpassed their previous playoff lowlight, a 5-1 defeat by the Red Wings in a 1999 first-round game.

Asked what needs fixing, Scott Niedermayer said, “Everything.”

“I think we need to learn from it,” Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. “I don’t think we can just put it aside. We need to maintain a positive attitude and stay together as a group right now.”

Jean-Sebastien Giguere didn’t make the big saves as he had throughout the playoffs but was spared the indignity of it all after giving up three goals in 13 shots.

Giguere was pulled after Bertuzzi’s goal at the 3:17 mark of the second period, with Ilya Bryzgalov making his first appearance since Game 4 of the first round against Minnesota.

Carlyle said he pulled Giguere not because he was disappointed but because “things weren’t going our way at all.”

“As a goalie, you try not to be a negative force out there and give your team a chance,” Giguere said. “Tonight, I didn’t do that.”

How soon the Ducks forget may be critical. Giguere said it should be “as soon as you put your tie on.

“Once you walk out of the rink, it should be over,” he said. “Whether it’s a win or a loss.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com