Detroit defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom acknowledges the crowd at Joe Louis Arena after scoring two goals, including the winner with 49 seconds left Friday night. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

Defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom scored with 49.1 seconds remaining in the third period to hand the Red Wings a 3-2 victory against the pesky Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Lidstrom scored a pair of goals and an assist, while centre Johan Franzen added the other marker.

"Special player," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said of Lidstrom.

The Wings take a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference matchup. The teams will remain in Detroit for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. ET).

With overtime looming, the savvy Lidstrom began the winning play with a great outlet pass from behind his own net. He then followed up on his rebound, alertly jumped into the play and slipped the puck behind the legs of goaltender Jonas Hiller.

"It came off my pad and he was there all alone," admitted Hiller. "He was patient enough to wait until I moved."

Detroit teammate Jonathan Ericsson never gets tired of watching Lidstrom work his magic.

"I just get so amazed how he performs out there in a big game like this, in the last minute like that," he said. "He's so calm out there. I guess the experience speaks for itself. I get goosebumps."

Franzen dragged Hiller's right pad along the ice with his skate just before Lidstrom's goal, but a penalty was not called, to the dismay of the Ducks. Franzen was a distraction to Hiller for most of the game.

"Amazing, isn't it?" questioned Carlyle, who felt the goal should have been disallowed. "They're supposed to be protecting goalies."

Both goaltenders were solid. Hiller turned away 34 shots, while Chris Osgood made 22 saves.

Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne scored for Anaheim. Ryan Getzlaf notched two assists.

Physical and chippy

To the surprise of no one, the contest was a physical and often chippy affair. The game also featured the ejection of Ducks winger Mike Brown after he bloodied Detroit centre Jiri Hudler with a questionable hit in the first period.

"It's playoff hockey and there's a lot of intensity out there," said Lidstrom. "Both teams want to win real hard and that really comes out in a game like this."

The clubs also made no bones about crashing the net to disrupt the goaltenders, creating several skirmishes.

The Ducks sent a wakeup call to Detroit early, scoring the game's first goal at 7:28.

Perry took a cross-ice feed from linemate Getzlaf and sailed his fourth goal in as many games over the glove of Osgood.

The momentum didn't last long. The undisciplined Ducks found themselves in a hole when Brown drilled an unsuspecting Hudler just across the Red Wings' blue-line.

With blood spilling from a facial cut caused by his visor, a dazed Hudler was taken to the dressing room, although he returned for the start of the second period after receiving 10 stitches. Brown, meanwhile, was assessed a five-minute interference penalty plus a game misconduct.

"I just hit him with my shoulder," said Brown. "My elbow wasn't up, my stick wasn't up. I didn't think it was a penalty. They only called it because he was bleeding. I think he got cut by his visor."

The angered Wings responded with a power-play goal at 11:29. Franzen stripped the puck from defenceman Francois Beauchemin, cut toward the Anaheim net before beating Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.

Franzen then bowled over Hiller, sending a message to the Anaheim netminder to expect more for the rest of the series.

Will be automatically reviewed

Brown may hear from the NHL head office for check. Washington tough guy Donald Brashear was suspended for five games on a similar hit to the Rangers' Blair Betts during the first round.

The play will automatically be reviewed, and the league will determine whether the hit was late. Playing in Brown's favour is the fact that Hudler returned to the game, whereas Betts suffered a broken orbital bone.

"I don't know if it's necessary to get that suspension. It was a clean hit. I wasn't meaning to do any harm. I was just playing physical."

Predictably, the intensity picked up in the second, with Perry and Ericsson — the last pick (291 overall) of the 2002 draft — exchanging blows less than five minutes into the period.

Another Ducks penalty allowed Detroit to take a 2-1 lead at 14:24 of the second. Following a faceoff win, Lidstrom unloaded a slap shot past a screened Hiller.

Detroit's No. 1 power play remained red-hot, scoring its ninth goal on 23 chances.

The Red Wings returned favour to Anaheim, which tied the game on a four-on-three power play with only 16.1 seconds remaining.

Stationed to the right of Osgood, Selanne beat the Detroit goalie with a quick one-timer.

Hiller kept the game even early in the third, denying Franzen on a breakaway less than two minutes into the period.

"I'm upset from the standpoint that I thought we missed an opportunity [Friday night]," said Carlyle.

An upper-body injury kept Red Wings defenceman Brian Rafalski out of the lineup. Rafalski's stop was taken by 47-year-old Chris Chelios, who saw limited action as the game progressed.