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ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings put a limit on the celebrating in Anaheim. Brendan Shanahan scored two goals, one conventional and one unconventional, as the Red Wings spoiled the home opener of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim with a 4-2 victory. Playing in the shadow of Edison International Field, where the Anaheim Angels won the American League pennant about an hour before the opening faceoff, Detroit never trailed after Shanahan beat goaltender J.S. Giguere just 43 seconds into the first period. Shanahan also got a power-play goal in the final minute of the second period. With a delayed penalty signaled on the Red Wings, Giguere headed to the net to give the Ducks an extra attacker. But Adam Oates' pass from behind Detroit's cage missed the target and slid all the way into Anaheim's unguarded net. "I've never done that before," said Oates, one of the great playmakers in NHL history. "I've seen a few go into the net but not that many. Art (Keith Carney) gave it to me, I sent it to Vish (Vitali Vishnevsky) at the point. Just as I let it go, he turned to go to the bench." As the last opposing player to touch the puck, Shanahan was credited with his second goal of the season. "I didn't know who touched it last. I guess it went off my skate to Oates," Shanahan said. "I didn't know we were getting a penalty. Oates didn't know we were getting a penalty, but Cheli (Chris Chelios) and I knew it was in all the way." Two-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom and highly touted rookie Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Detroit, which improved to 23-7-6 all time against Anaheim. "It was a good road trip," said Red Wings coach Dave Lewis, whose team went 2-1 on a West Coast trip and hosts Montreal on Thursday in its home opener. "I liked the overall effort, everybody worked hard. Last night and tonight's effort was good. Last night we were just on the bad end of the break." Paul Kariya and defenseman Ruslan Salei tallied for the Ducks, who were unbeaten in their previous five home openers (4-0-1). "We had a lot of breaks go against us," Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said. "You just can't spot that team any points. ... Obviously, we don't want to be down 3-0." The Ducks answered Shanahan's fluke goal with a power-play tally by Kariya with just six seconds to go in the second period. Kariya put a rebound of Petr Sykora's shot over the right shoulder of crouching goalie Manny Leagace for his first goal of the season. Salei got Anaheim within a goal 5:25 into the third period, blasting a one-timer from the high slot past Legace. But Zetterberg restored Detroit's two-goal cushion with 6:18 remaining, getting a rebound of Chelios' shot at the left side of the net and putting in the net before Giguere could recover. "It was nice getting that first goal," Zetterberg said. Making his first start of the season, Legace protected the lead and finished with 28 saves. "It's tough fighting uphill," Oates said. "We played the Stanley Cup champs tight. We played pretty hard. We've got to improve a few things. One of them is the power play; that takes some time when you have a lot of new personnel." |
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