2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Semifinals

The Detroit Red Wings couldn't pull the trigger before referee Brad Watson unleashed a quick trigger on his whistle, and that's why the Wings find themselves trailing 2-1 in their Western Conference semifinal with the Anaheim Ducks.

Watson sounded his whistle when a loose puck squirted under Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller with 1:04 to play in regulation time. But the puck continued its path right through Hiller and Detroit's Marian Hossa banged the loose disc into the net a split-second after Watson sounded his whistle to halt play.

"That was lucky for us," Hiller admitted.

Under National Hockey League rules, inadvertent whistles are not reviewable and the play stood, allowing Anaheim to hang on for a 2-1 victory.

"The official thought the puck was dead underneath the goalie," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "That's why he blew the whistle and it was no goal.

We've been burned by that numerous times this year, where the puck seems to be alive but the referee blows the whistle."

Naturally, Wings head coach Mike Babcock wasn't as understanding.

"We should be in overtime," he said. "We got two, they got two, but we're not playing [overtime]."

Staying focused

Babcock's main concern after the game was that his team leave the bad break in the rear-view mirror and put the emphasis on success in Game 4.

"We can't worry about that now," Babcock said of the disallowed goal. "We went hard to the net.

"Maybe not in the first period, but after that we played the way we needed to play. We've just got to make sure we stay on that path, remain focused and doing the things we need to do."

Great Scott

Ducks defenceman Scott Niedermayer netted what proved to be the game winner on a second-period power play, once again proving to be a thorn in the side to the Red Wings. When these two teams met in the 2007 conference final, Niedermayer scored an overtime winner in Game 2, and his goal with 48 seconds left in regulation in Game 5 allowed the Ducks to win 2-1 in OT on Teemu Selanne's tally.

"We got to watch him, he gets in the play a lot of times," Detroit goalie Chris Osgood said. 'He'll make the first pass out of the zone, but be one of the first players in the offensive zone, or close to it.

"He's a difference maker. If we're not watching him, he's going to burn us like he has in past series."

Niedermayer has never lost a playoff series to the Wings, also beating them in the 1995 Stanley Cup final when he was a member of the New Jersey Devils.

Wisniewski injured

There was a scary moment 6:11 left in the second period when Anaheim defenceman James Wisniewski fell to the ice shaking after being struck in the chest by a shot from Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk. Blood was coming from Wisniewski’s mouth, but that turned out to be because he was struck by an elbow from Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom shortly after he was hit with the shot.

Wisniewski was taken off the ice by stretcher and by ambulance to UCI Medical Center in Orange County, Calif., where he was diagnosed with a lung contusion. He was to remain hospitalized overnight for observation.

Finnish Flash

Anaheim’s all-time playoff scoring leader with 25 goals, Selanne struck for the second time in the series, opening the scoring when he got behind Detroit defenceman Chris Chelios and beat Osgood on a breakaway.

"I just got a little break," Selanne said. "It was a great pass from [linemate Ryan] Carter."

Getzlaf mark

Tuesday's win was the first in the playoffs for the Ducks without getting a goal from the top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. Drawing an assist on Niedermayer's goal, Getzlaf tied the club record for consecutive playoff games with an assist and a point. Dmitri Mironov set the mark April 24-May 8, 1997.

"I've felt this good in the playoffs the last three years," Getzlaf said. "Part of my game is to produce offensively.

"These are definitely two evenly-matched teams. Both want it as much as the other one. We were fortunate to come out on top."

Getzlaf leads all playoff scorers in points (14) and assists (11) this spring.

Finally full

There was a capacity crowd of 17,174 on hand Tuesday at the Honda Center, the first sellout of these playoffs for the Ducks. Anaheim was the only home team not to play in front of a full house in the opening round of the Stanley Cup.