2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Semifinals

The Detroit Red Wings looked like defending Stanley Cup champions during their 6-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Thursday. The Ducks, meanwhile, looked like a tired hockey club. Even though the matchup is deadlocked 2-2, could this be the turning point in this Western Conference semifinal series?

The Wings wouldn’t go as far as to count the Ducks out, but they certainly liked the developments that took place on the ice in Game 4.

“We played loose and confident more than we have at any point of the series,” Wings goaltender Chris Osgood said. “We didn’t start like we wanted to, but we responded a lot better than we have at other times in the series.

“There’s going to be a lot of emotional changes and I thought we handled them better than at any other point of the series.”

Ducks centre Todd Marchant admitted that the Ducks certainly weren’t themselves in Game 4.

“We did some really uncharacteristic things,” Marchant said. “We turned the puck over numerous times in the neutral zone. For the majority of the game we lacked that offensive zone time.

“There is no excuse for it. For whatever reason, we didn't have it and they did.”

Been there, done that

Detroit defenceman Brad Stuart felt the club’s experience in such pivotal games carried the day.

“This is our real first test of character in the playoffs,” Stuart said. “We’ve had situations throughout the season that tested our character and most of the time we were able to come through.

“Most of it is guys that have been thought everything before, there’s great leadership on the team. There’s never a sense of panic, nobody gets worried. We have good confidence in our ability.”

Hiller hassled
For the first time in the series, the Wings had success getting pucks through Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who was chased after the fifth Detroit goal early in the third period. And they were able to impede his vision with a steady supply of traffic in front of the net.

“He’s been excellent in this series, but we talked about keep peppering him and [shooting] the puck at his feet and getting rebounds and second chances,” said Wings right-winger Marian Hossa, who scored twice in Game 4, including the game winner.

For his part, Hiller tried to look ahead and not at the number of pucks that went behind him.

“That's the good part about the playoffs,” Hiller said. “It doesn't matter if you lose 2-1, or 1-0, or 6-3.

“The next game is going to be Sunday and we start the series again. It's going to be a best-of-three series. We have shown we can win out there, that's what we are going to try to do.”

Festerling fine

Playing in an NHL game for the first time since March 11, Anaheim defenceman Brett Festerling, who came into the lineup to replace the injured James Wisniewski (lung contusion), played a steady 14:34 and was minus-one.

“Wisniewski has been very, very competitive, but I thought Festerling came in and just gave us minutes and didn't hurt us,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “When you lose a player like Wisniewski, and they don't have [defenceman Brian] Rafalski, you have to make adjustments.

“I didn't think that was specifically our downfall. I didn't think we were mentally strong enough in some of the areas to be consistent with the structure we play.”

With the extra day of rest between games, the Ducks are hopeful that Wisniewski may get the doctor’s clearance to play.

Kopecky out, Abdelkader in

The Wings will play Game 5 without fourth-line winger Tomas Kopecky, who suffered an undisclosed head injury when punched during a third-period fight with Anaheim’s Francois Beauchemin.

“He's not playing Sunday, that's for sure,” Detroit general manager Ken Holland said of Kopecky.

Left-winger Justin Abdelkader, among five players called up Friday from Detroit’s Grand Rapids affiliate after it was eliminated from the American Hockey League playoffs, will step into Kopecky’s spot and make his Stanley Cup debut.

“He'll run the crap out of people,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said of the six-foot-two, 203-pound Abdelkader. “We expect him to play hard.”

Babcock said it was “doubtful” that either Rafalski or centre Kris Draper, both out with upper-body injuries, would be ready to play by Sunday.

“They're all going for tests, pictures,” Holland said of the injured Wings. “They're going to the hospital and we'll see how they feel [Saturday].”

The Wings also recalled forwards Ville Leino and Aaron Downey, defenceman Jakub Kindl and goaltender Jimmy Howard from Grand Rapids for depth purposes.