GAME ONE
DETROIT 5, ANAHEIM 3
It's not going to be a cake walk. The Mighty Ducks are hacking and
whacking their way through the first round against the Red Wings.
It may be their only chance. But it was not enough in the first
game as the Red Wings won handily, 5-3.
"It was a physical game. There were some bangs out there," Brendan
Shanahan said. "We were yelling for some calls, they were yelling
for some calls."
"It was a pretty good start," Chris Chelios said. Wendel Clark added
a goal and an assist and Doug Brown also scored. The Wings outshot
the Ducks 32-29 in the win.
Steve Yzerman, the Conn Smythe winner of last year's playoffs,
appeared in mid-playoff form. He had a severe gash over his left
eye as he created numerous scoring chances as well as getting a
hat trick. The first two goals came from just outside the crease
and the final with just 78 seconds left.
"That's Stevie," Shanahan said. "It's not about speeches or
anything like that. He goes out and does it on the ice. That's why
he's the leader he is."
The game was very physical from start to finish. That is playoff
hockey at its best and the Red Wings playing for the most part a
disciplined style game. Having a deep lineup that turns over four
lines consistently throughout the game seems to be no match for the
Ducks.
GAME TWO
DETROIT 5, ANAHEIM 1
Game one was all Stevie. Game Two was all Shanny. He had two goals
and an assist as the Red Wings defeated the Ducks, 5-1 in game two
of the first round. His first goal was scored a minute into the
game to set the tone.
"That put the big train in the right direction," defenseman Ulf
Samuelsson said.
The telling tale of the game may be the fact that the Red Wings were
3 of 9 on the power play . The Ducks were just 1 for 4. Sergei
Fedorov added a pair of assists for the second straight game, and
Tomas "Homer" Holmstrom, Doug Brown and Steve Yzerman added a goal
each.
"We've got such depth that when one guy is struggling to find the
net, other guys pick him up," Shanahan said. "There's a new guy
that's the story every night. That's the most important thing
we've had the past two years in the playoffs. It would be a shame
to have it focused on one or two guys."
Obvioulsly referring to the Ducks who rely heavily on Selanne and
Kariya for their scoring.
GAME THREE
DETROIT 4, ANAHEIM 2
Scoring five goals in three games, Steve Yzerman has scored just one
fewer than the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim the series so far. Yzerman had
the go-ahead goal in the second period on a power play as the Red
Wings won 4-2 to move closer to a sweep in the first round of the not
so Mighty Ducks.
"Things are going his way," Coach Scotty Bowman said. "He's around
the net, he's picking up rebounds, and he really has good energy
and is really focused."
Red Wings defensemen Chris Chelios and Niklas Lidstrom again
nullified the Mighty Ducks' high scoring dynamic duo of Teemu
Selanne and Paul Kariya. Selanne did not have a shot on net , and
Kariya had three shots, only one in the last two periods.
"I told the players that these are dangerous games," Bowman said.
"I told them to play like they were down in the series even with a
two-game advantage."
Yzerman's goal came when Stu Grimson was in the box after receiving
a match penalty. He cross-checked Kris Draper in the face. Yzerman
converted a rebound upstairs for the score from a low angle.
Former Red Wing Stu Grimson readily admitted that he messed up. "I
thought the game turned on that moment," he said. "It was overly
aggressive and it was inappropriate."
Slava Kozlov, Tomas Holmstrom and Sergei Fedorov also scored for the
Wings. The Ducks led 2-1 on power-play goals by Marty McInnis and
Jason Marshall later in the first period. The Wings came back to
seal the game.
Extras: Not playing so far for the Red Wings have been Jamie
Macoun, Todd Gill, Brent Gilchrist, and Stacey Roest. Each of those
four will see some playing time should the Wings continue to
advance. Macoun and Gill do provide a wealth of experience on the
blue line. Gilchrist is the consummate playoff workhouse as well.
Norm Maracle is the odd man out between the pipes as Billy Ranford
has been the back up.
