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DETROIT (Ticker) -- At least one player believes the Detroit Red Wings are part of some conspiracy. Behind four power-play goals and some good fortune in the third period, the Red Wings extended their lead in the NHL standings with a 5-3 victory over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Detroit allowed Anaheim to sneak within a goal in the final four minutes, but Jeff Friesen was called for roughing with 2:37 left and Mathieu Dandenault cashed in on the ensuing power play to cap the scoring. Friesen questioned his penalty. He had been cross-checked by Kirk Maltby before retaliating, leading to Detroit's seventh power play. Anaheim was 0-for-4 with the man advantage and had a goal disallowed with 7:06 left. "You play Detroit and everyone wants them to have the most points in history," said Friesen, whose team allowed three power-play goals in the first period and fell behind, 4-0, in the second. "You're gonna be down calls." Brendan Shanahan scored a pair of power-play goals for the Red Wings, who lead the NHL with 63 points (29-8-3-2). They are chasing the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, who recorded an NHL-record 132 points. "I just look at the win column," said Detroit's Scotty Bowman, who also coached the record-setting Canadiens and a Detroit team that recorded a league-record 62 wins in 1995-96. "That's the bottom line." Chicago is second to Detroit in the Central Division and overall standings with 54 points (23-12-8). With Detroit struggling again in the third period, Anaheim fought within 4-2 on goals by Samuel Pahlsson and defenseman Oleg Tverdosvsky and had another waved off with 7:06 remaining. Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek had the puck under his left pad before Dan Bylsma shoved it over the goal line, apparently beating referee Rob Martell's whistle. But Martell immediately waved off the goal. "The puck was under his pads and I just jabbed at it," Bylsma said. "I thought you had the right to jab at the puck until the whistle blew. He didn't have control of it." The Ducks closed within a goal when Marc Chouinard scored his third of the season with 3:57 remaining, but it could have been the equalizer if not for Martell's quick whistle. "If we add that, it's 4-4. It's a tie game," Bylsma said. "It's tough to say what would happen. We had it going. It was a big thing for us." Bylsma and Chouinard had assists for Anaheim, which extended its winless streak to four games (0-3-1) with its worst effort on a 2-3-1 road trip. "We just stood around in the first period," coach Bryan Murray said. "We were like five pylons out there. At the end of the game is the way we've been playing. The first part of the game was embarrassing." The Red Wings dominated the opening two periods, but they also got some lucky bounces. Luc Robitaille hit a vacant net with a rebound to open the scoring at 3:18 of the first. It was his 609th goal, moving him past Dino Ciccarelli into 11th place on the all-time list and within one of Bobby Hull for the lead among left wings. Shanahan also was fortunate on his second goal, picking up a rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom's slap shot off the end boards and beating Steve Shields at the left goalpost with three seconds left in the first. "They're not always going to be pretty goals, but they're goals," said Shanahan, who also scored 7:34 into the opening period. Sergei Fedorov scored Detroit's only goal at even strength, tallying 5:39 into the second period. Fedorov, a former Hart Trophy-winning center, played on the blue line for the second straight game and ended a 12-game goal drought. "I felt a little more comfortable tonight," he said. "It's not my favorite position to play, but so far, it's been successful." "We're getting some goals because he's jumped up and kept the play in," Bowman added. "The way the game is played now, you need that." The Red Wings also welcomed the return of long-time captain Steve Yzerman, who had two assists. He missed three games with an ankle injury. |
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