Ducks have issues with a regular Joe

DETROIT -- Joe Louis Arena isn’t the haunted house in which the Ducks have spent many a torturous night.

They’ve got four wins against the Detroit Red Wings in their last five playoff games there, and since the perennially strong Red Wings can’t sell out any home playoff games, much less their season opener Wednesday night, the Ducks might as well feel downright comfortable in what were once hostile surroundings.

Not so fast.

The Ducks were unable to break their five-year regular-season drought in Detroit, losing, 3-2, on Jiri Hudler’s decisive goal in the shootout.

Even though the Ducks haven’t won a regular-season game in Detroit in nine tries dating to March 19, 2002, it was still a point earned by the short-handed Ducks, whose legs still appeared to be in London.

“We’ve got to be happy we got a point, but at the same time I don’t think we played nearly as solid as we needed to,” Ducks forward Todd Bertuzzi said. “The positive is it’s a big point, we can get out of here and move on.”

As early season games go, it was a vivid reminder of the riveting six-game victory by the Ducks last June. The teams traded leads over the course of the 60 minutes of regulation, with the Red Wings often carrying the play and Anaheim repeatedly turning them away.

Most of the turning away was done by Ilya Bryzgalov in net. After a shaky outing in their season-opening 4-1 loss to the Kings, Bryzgalov kept the Ducks in the game with a 40-save performance as they were outshot, 42-15.

“It’s good for him and his teammates,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “He battled hard for our group and he represented. He gave us a chance to get the extra point.”

Bryzgalov was particularly strong in the second and third periods in making a number of point-blank saves to keep them in it while the guys in front of him tried to find their game.

It was a performance he needed after a training camp in which he struggled and rookie Jonas Hiller impressed in place of regular starter Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was recovering from sports hernia surgery.

“Since the season has begun, I think it was my best game,” Bryzgalov said. “My teammates really helped me a lot in clearing the puck in the slot. When you play consistently, a goalie is better because you’re in game situations and you get a lot of work.”

Another development was the play of Bertuzzi, who gave a glimpse of why General Manager Brian Burke invested two years and $8 million in him this summer despite an injury-plagued 2006-07 season.

Now healed and almost 20 pounds lighter, Bertuzzi tied the score at 1-1 in the second period by finishing a well-designed break with Corey Perry and Andy McDonald.

McDonald drew two defenders his way in the Detroit zone, Perry hit Bertuzzi with a cross-ice pass and the big forward buried it past goalie Dominik Hasek.

“That’s what we work on in practice,” Perry said. “It was textbook.”

In the final minute of the second, Bertuzzi managed to keep the puck away from Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios -- who have eight Norris trophies for the league’s best defenseman between them -- before finding Ryan Getzlaf with a nice backhand pass across the crease.

Getzlaf quickly shot it past Hasek for a power-play goal and a 2-1 lead.

In talking about Bertuzzi, Perry said, “Oh, he’s going to be a huge factor. He’s going to be relied upon heavily, just like a bunch of us are going to be without Teemu [Selanne], without Scotty [Niedermayer]. We’ve got a few holes to fill.”

The lead didn’t last as Ducks nemesis Tomas Holmstrom tied the game at 4:04 of the third with Detroit’s second power-play goal, matching one by Henrik Zetterberg in the first.

And while the announced crowd of 17,610 was the first regular-season non-sellout at “The Joe” since Dec. 10, 1996, the Ducks still dropped to 2-19-6 in the arena outside of the playoffs.

“It’s tough to play in this building during the season and in the playoffs, with the crowd and their skill level and all the atmosphere,” Perry said. “We’re lucky to get one tonight.”

eric.stephens@latimes.com