Ducks too much for Red Wings after four-goal first
The Anaheim Ducks used a fast start to stay on a roll.
Sami Vatanen had a goal and an assist and Anaheim used a four-goal first period to extend their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Detroit's Tomas Jurco got his first NHL goal 3:15 into the game but Jacob Silfverberg tied it just 25 seconds later and Nick Bonino gave the Ducks the lead for good at 5:29.
"When Silfverberg scored, I think it deflated them a little bit. But when Bonin (Bonino) scored, it really deflated them," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Corey Perry and Saku Koivu also scored for Anaheim. Andrew Cogliano had three assists and Jonas Hiller made 16 saves.
Perry scored with 1:43 left in the first, which chased Red Wings' starting goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, and Vatanen made it 4-1 with just a second left in the opening period.
It was the first game between the two teams since last spring when Detroit upset Anaheim in seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
"I don't know if it was a big game for us after last spring but it was big game for us to have a good start on the road trip," Hiller said.
Daniel Cleary also scored for Detroit, which has lost its past six (0-4-2).
Gustavsson stopped eight of 11 shots before being replaced by Petr Mrazek late in the first period. Mrazek made 17 saves.
"I liked how we started. Things were going pretty good for about three minutes. Obviously, it didn't go very well for us," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "They shot the puck in the net and we lost momentum very fast and didn't have a very good effort from that point on."
The Red Wings are missing a lot of their key players. Center and captain Henrik Zetterberg (herniated disc), centers Darren Helm (shoulder) and Steven Weiss (groin) and defenseman Danny DeKeyser (separated shoulder) are all on the long-term injured reserve, goalie Jimmy Howard (knee) is out, forward Johan Franzen and left wing Justin Abdelkader are out with possible concussions and right wing Gustav Nyquist missed the game with a sore groin.
"It's got no part of it. There's no excuse whatsoever. Injuries got nothing to do with it," Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said when asked about the injuries.
"We got to get back to basics, but at the same time, enough talking, we've been talking about. It's time for us to get out there and actually show it on the ice."
Jurco, playing in his second NHL game, scored on a breakaway.
Silfverberg, who returned after missing 24 games with a broken right hand, tied the game by putting in the carom off the end boards for his fifth goal.
Bonino then put in a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle. It was Bonino's 10th goal.
Koivu scored at 12:26 of the second.
Cleary scored his third of the season with 1:58 remaining.
NOTE: Anaheim D Mark Fistric missed his third game with an upper-body injury. ... Jurco was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids on Sunday ... Anaheim captain and center Ryan Getzlaf went to the dressing room with 5:40 left in the first period after being shoved into the boards from behind by Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey. Getzlaf's mouth was cut and Quincey got a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct. Quincey faces a possible suspension. Getzlaf returned in the second period but his 16-game scoring streak was snapped. ... Anaheim D Cam Fowler was born in Windsor, Ontario — across the Detroit River from Detroit — and grew up in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills. ... Ducks C Andrew Cogliano played at the University of Michigan.
