Ducks-Red Wings Game 2 Recap

(8) ANAHEIM DUCKS over the (2) DETROIT RED WINGS 4-3 (3OT)
by Andrew Bogusch

Todd Marchant celebrates his 2nd ever Playoff OT game winnner

(Photo Credit: AP)

Series tied, 1-1

The Ducks and Red Wings started game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal shortly after lunch and did not finish until after dinner. Veteran forward Todd Marchant scored the game-winner 75 seconds into the sixth period on a left wing wrist shot over Chris Osgood’s glove. Osgood says he never saw the shot that ended the first multi-overtime game of this postseason and, more importantly, evened this series at one game apiece as it shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 Tuesday night.

The Ducks left Detroit with home ice advantage after surviving the first two extra periods. The Wings outshot Anaheim 29-15 in those 60 minutes and had the only power-play of OT. Jonas Hiller gave Marchant a chance to be the hero by turning away 59 total shots. “I’ve never gone to double overtime before. We have shootouts at home,” the Switzerland native said afterwards.

Anaheim would not have needed Hiller and Marchant’s heroics had it preserved two one-goal leads in regulation. Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Pronger scored at 8:16 and 8:50 of the first period for a 2-1 lead. And Ryan Carter scored off a rebound off the back wall for a 3-2 edge early in the second. But the Red Wings rallied both times, with Johan Franzen scoring at 5:19 of the final period to setup OT.

Marchant had just been interviewed on NBC during the fifth intermission when he intercepted a pass at his own blueline. He got the puck back from James Wisniewski, headed up the right side of the ice, and then criss-crossed with Rob Niedermayer at the Detroit line. Marchant let go a rather soft wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle that floated over Osgood’s glove.

“Not many goals get decided off my stick, that’s for sure,” Marchant told reporters in the Ducks locker room. It was the quickest into a third overtime that anyone had scored in NHL history.

Brad Stuart and Mikael Samuelsson also scored for Detroit, who lost for the first time this postseason. However, the Wings have now lost five straight in the postseason in overtime to Anaheim.