Price for this penalty is steep

For nearly 60 minutes, the Detroit Red Wings accomplished everything they had set out to do in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.

But things turned for them late in regulation when forward Pavel Datsyuk was called for interference on the Ducks’ Andy McDonald at 18 minutes 13 seconds of the third period.

“I think that is not a good call,” said Datsyuk, who had a strong outing with four shots on goal and four takeaways for the Red Wings, who outshot the Ducks, 37-26. “I tried to [make a play] but it is a penalty. It is a 50-50 play.”

With Datsyuk in the penalty box and Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere pulled, Scott Niedermayer scored on a six-on-four power play with 47.3 seconds remaining to tie the score at 1-1.

Niedermayer scored from the left circle when he fired a low shot that deflected off the stick of Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom and past goaltender Dominik Hasek, who had been stellar up to that point.

“We thought we played a pretty good game,” Detroit Coach Mike Babcock said. “We felt we had our opportunities. They got one on the power play even though it was six-on-four.”

With Hasek playing lights out in goal, the Red Wings seemed to have the Ducks’ number all afternoon. Detroit was the more aggressive team with the best scoring chances.

Once in overtime, however, the Ducks’ play picked up and in the end, it was a turnover by Detroit defenseman Andreas Lilja that led to Teemu Selanne’s winning goal.

“We were going [well] but we needed more than one goal to go in,” Datsyuk said. “But this team has lots of experience.... All we can do is learn and build from this.”

Babcock took a more philosophical approach to Detroit’s inability to close out the Ducks.

“The playoffs are about adversity,” Babcock said. “Things go your way, sometimes they don’t.

“My belief in this group is we keep coming. It didn’t go the way we wanted here tonight on the scoreboard. But it’s not like we’ve come out and laid two eggs in a row here.”

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Apparently it wasn’t Selanne’s alert play that won the game for the Ducks, or Giguere’s 36-save performance.

It was Sean O’Donnell’s lucky suit.

The defenseman reached deep into his wardrobe for an electric-blue, double-breasted jacket and dark pants that he said he got in Edmonton in 1997, when he first made it to the NHL.

“It was my first tailored suit,” he said, opening the jacket wide to show off the fit and the blue buttons. “It’s a wee bit ridiculous, but who cares? It’s playoff time.”

However, the jacket’s magic might be limited. O’Donnell said he wouldn’t pull it out again Tuesday, when a victory by the Ducks would put them into the Stanley Cup finals. “There’s only so many times you can go to the jacket,” he said, smiling.

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In the first five games of the series, the team with the most shots on goal has lost four times. In Game 2, the Ducks outshot the Red Wings, 33-27, and won, 4-3.... Detroit’s Johan Franzen had eight shots on goal Sunday.... The Ducks’ fourth line included two players with limited playoff experience in Ryan Carter, who saw his first postseason action in Game 4, and Joe Motzko, who made his postseason debut Sunday. Defenseman Rik Jackman, who scored a key goal in Game 4 when he took the place of suspended Chris Pronger, got the call again Sunday when Coach Randy Carlyle opted to sit Joe DiPenta.

lonnie.white@latimes.com

helene.elliott@latimes.com