GAME REPORT

FIRST PERIOD: RED WINGS: 1, MIGHTY DUCKS: 1

IN REVIEW: The player seemingly most effective against the Mighty Ducks lately hasn’t been Steve Yzerman or Sergei Fedorov or even Brendan Shanahan. How about right wing Doug Brown? Brown, who scored only six goals during the regular season, scored his third against the Ducks this series, this in the first period to make it 1-1. Brown did not play in the first round against the St. Louis Blues. After a spirited start, the Ducks slowed near the end of the first period with only one shot on goal in the final 7:34.

SAVES: Anaheim--Mikhail Shtalenkov 14, Detroit--Mike Vernon 7.

SCORING: Ducks 1, Red Wings 0: Right wing Joe Sacco scored his second goal of the playoffs at 3:01 on a low shot through traffic after picking up a loose puck along the left-wing boards near the edge of the circle.

Ducks 1, Red Wings 1: Brown scored his third of the playoffs at 18:25 on a shot from the left circle after Fedorov won the face-off from Mark Janssen.

KEY PLAYS: The biggest non-call came at 5:17 when the Ducks’ Warren Rychel cross-checked Vladimir Konstantinov and escaped punishment. . . . It isn’t often that Yzerman misses an easy scoring chance, but he did at 12:26, fanning at the right crease. In his defense, the puck was skipping on him a bit. Yzerman later came back with the best move of the period when he went around the Ducks’ Dmitri Mironov and Mironov took a tripping penalty.

SECOND PERIOD: RED WINGS: 1, MIGHTY DUCKS: 2

IN REVIEW: The Ducks started the period slowly--not putting a shot on goal until 3:33--but finished strongly. Helping somewhat was uninspired play by the Red Wings, who turned in one of their more lackluster periods of the series. Vernon kept them in it, though, making two big saves in the final 2:27, first on a shot by Paul Kariya and then on one by Jari Kurri. Detroit’s power play was ineffective through the first two periods, going zero for three with five shots.

SAVES: Shtalenkov, 12, Vernon 11.

SCORING: Ducks 2, Red Wings 1: With right wing Darren McCarty off for slashing, Brian Bellows scored his second goal of the playoffs at 15:23 on a sharp angle from the base of the right circle, only seconds after Vernon stopped Kariya’s shot from point-blank range.

KEY PLAYS: With 29.9 seconds to play, Kurri was set up on a breakaway by Teemu Selanne on the power play. Kurri went to his forehand and tried to put it under Vernon, who thwarted his shot. . . . Most humorous moment: Konstantinov was sent to the penalty box at 18:44 for high-sticking Kariya. Konstantinov didn’t like the intrusive ESPN camera and tried to cover it up with a towel.

THIRD PERIOD: RED WINGS: 2, MIGHTY DUCKS: 2

IN REVIEW: The Red Wings buzzed the Duck net, dominating play. Shtalenkov was sound in goal to start the period, and the Ducks killed off the fourth Red Wing power play. But hard work by the Red Wings produced the tying goal midway through the period. Detroit controlled play, but couldn’t punch in the go-ahead goal and the teams went to overtime for the third time in four games.

SAVES: Shtalenkov 17, Vernon 4.

SCORING: Ducks 2, Detroit 2--Defenseman Niklas Lidstrom slipped a back-hander past Shtalenkov at 9:09 after McCarty made a centering pass from behind the Duck net while falling to the ice.

KEY PLAYS: The Red Wings killed off the final 43 seconds of a Duck power play to start the period. . . . Shtalenkov stopped Lidstrom twice and Yzerman once with Detroit on the power play early in the period. . . . McCarty set up the tying goal with Kariya knocking him to the ice behind the Duck net. . . . Shtalenkov stopped Kozlov from point-blank range at 13:25. . . . Shtalenkov poked the puck off McCarty’s stick on a breakaway at 14:34. . . . Defenseman Bobby Dollas broke a 10-minute Duck streak without a shot with 3:12 left.

FIRST OVERTIME: RED WINGS: 0, MIGHTY DUCKS: 0

IN REVIEW: Detroit picked up where it left off in the third period, taking the play to the Ducks to start overtime. But the Ducks countered with pressure after a few minutes to give Shtalenkov a respite. Richard Park, who moved up to center the line with Kariya and Selanne in the third period, helped give the Ducks a bit more speed.

SAVES: Shtalenkov 12, Vernon 8.

SCORING: None.

KEY PLAYS: Bellows ripped a slap shot wide in the first minute of overtime. . . . Yzerman skated in alone after a Duck turnover, but missed the net wide left. . . . Rychel fanned on a rebound at the left post at 14:30. . . . Shtalenkov made his team-record 52nd save late in the period.

SECOND OVERTIME: RED WINGS: 3, MIGHTY DUCKS: 2

IN REVIEW: Almost all of the sellout of 17,174 stuck around for the fifth period.

SAVES: Shtalenkov 14, Vernon 5.

SCORING: Detroit 3, Ducks 2--Shanahan banged home a rebound after a goal-mouth scramble at 17:03. After a video replay, the goal stood and the Red Wings advanced to the Western Conference final against the winner of the Colorado-Edmonton series.

KEY PLAYS: Selanne couldn’t convert on a centering pass from Mironov in the first minute. . . . Vernon turned aside Janssen’s slap shot on a two-on-one break a few moments later. . . . McCarty sent a shot from the left circle wide at 7:35. . . . Slava Fetisov high-sticked Rychel in the face at 10:52 to put the Ducks on their third power play. . . . The Ducks misfired with the man advantage, failing to record a shot. . . . Shanahan fired off the Red Wings’ 70th shot at 16:33, then won it a moment later.