Anaheim Ducks Defeat Detroit Red Wings 5-2

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

In the now 20-years of existence for the Anaheim Ducks, Joe Louis Arena has been a house of horrors. For the first time in franchise history, the Ducks have a ‘winning streak’ in the home arena of the Detroit Red Wings, as they used four first period goals to launch them to a 5-2 victory.

The first game of a four game Eastern Conference road trip, the Ducks got things started the right way, and now are riding a six game winning streak. The home woes continue for the Red Wings, as their five home victories are tied for the least in the entire NHL.

Stick handling wizard in training, Tomas Jurco, scored his first NHL goal in only his second game – scoring on a breakaway after a bad line change from the Ducks to get the scoring under way. Jurco made a beautiful forehand/backhand move to split open Ducks’ goalie Jonas Hiller’s five hole, and slid it right under him.

Not allowing the crowd to get into the game and to avoid allowing the Red Wings to start taking control of the game, the Ducks answered back immediately with Jakob Silfveberg scoring in his first game back in the lineup.

The goal, his fifth of the season, came just 25-seconds after Jurco’s marker and was another byproduct of the crazy boards at Joe Louis Arena. Francois  Beauchemin fired a shot wide, but the load rebound off the boards came right to Silfverberg, who fired the puck past starter Jonas Gustavsson.

A Nick Bonino goal would put the Ducks up 2-1, and they never looked back from there. After going over a month between points, Teemu Selanne has two points in as many games, assisting on Bonino’s tenth goal of the season.

The next game after Bonino was sent into the boards awkwardly against the Edmonton Oilers, another scary incident involving a Duck center – this time captain Ryan Getzlaf, who was hit into the boards by Kyle Quincey late in the first period.

Quincey would receive a game misconduct and the Ducks would go on a five minute power play for the second consecutive game – failing to convert as well.

The Ducks didn’t let that halt their momentum however, as a goal from Corey Perry extended it to 3-1, and also ended the night of Gustavsson. Sami Vatanen made it 4-1 with less than a second left on the clock, blasting a shot past Petr Mrazek.

Saku Koivu would add his fourth of the season in the second and Daniel Cleary scored late for the Red Wings to end up with the 5-2 score.

The Ducks are now 7-1-2 in their last ten games and still only trail the Chicago Blackhawks for best record in the NHL.

The Ducks pick things back up on Friday, as they will take on the New Jersey Devils.

Anthony Murphy is the Editor at Pucks of a Feather. You can reach him by email amurphy540@pullinamurph.com or follow him on Twitter @AMurphyTFC.