The Detroit Red Wings are not willing to go into the Eastern Conference next season without leaving a mark on the Western Conference. Sunday night they eliminated the #2 seed Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Next up are the Chicago Blackhawks, their long time conference rivals and the best team in the league.
Detroit had the first seven of eight shots on goal and captain Henrik Zetterberg scored 1:49 in the period. He did not have any points in the first five games, but found his groove in game six.
Anaheim tied it up when Emerson Etem put a slap shot past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. It looked like they were coming alive, but Detroit’s Justin Abdelkeder busted their bubble with a short handed goal on a breakaway at the end of the period.
The game continued in Detroit’s favor and Valtteri Flippula put the team up 3-1 in the second period.
However, Anaheim came close to staging a comeback with only three minutes left in the game. Zetterberg was given a delay of game penalty and Francois Beauchemin scored the power play goal at 16:43. But Detroit stayed strong and gave their goalie Howard the help he needed to move to the second round.
This is the 22nd straight year Detroit made the playoffs and reached the second round in the last six of seven years.
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