Road Trip Ends for Ducks with 5-0 Shutout Loss at Detroit

A long and tough rough trip for the Ducks finally came to an end with a 5-0 shutout loss to the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

Anaheim (5-6-3) seemed overmatched from the start, getting outshot 18-7 in the first period of play. The Ducks were only down by one goal, scored by Niklas Kronwall, after 20 minutes though. One of the club's best chances came in that opening frame, when Andrew Gordon rang a shorthanded shot off the post.

In the second period, the Red Wings again held a large shot advantage over the Ducks (18-6). Detroit also padded its lead, with two goals in a 50 second span from Henrik Zetterbeg and Nicklas Lidstrom. Luca Sbisa appeared to score his first goal of the season for Anaheim in the middle stanza, but it was quickly waved off for what was ruled incidental contact by Corey Perry on Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard.

Lidstrom (his second goal of the game) and Johan Franzen lit the lamp in the third to finish off the scoring, the latter bringing Jonas Hiller's night to an end. The Anaheim netminder stopped 40-of-45 shots before giving way to backup Dan Ellis.

Playing in Detroit has been notoriously difficult for Anaheim. The Ducks have won just three regular season games in franchise history at Joe Louis Arena. They will next visit the Motor City on February 10, the first game of an eight-game road trek.

With the loss, the Ducks ended their seven straight games on the road with a 1-3-3 record. Much of the next month will be spent in the friendly confines of Honda Center, as Anaheim will play 11 of its next 13 games at home.

The Red Wings snapped a six-game losing streak in the win and broke out of a scoring slump after they netted only six goals during their slide.

Kronwall opened the scoring 7:04 in when he beat Hiller with a slap shot from the right point for his second goal. It came just 6 seconds after Anaheim killed a penalty. The Red Wings outshot the Ducks 17-1 in the first 13:30 of the game.

Zetterberg made it 2-0 at 1:55 of the second period when he scored his third of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot after controlling Franzen's pass with his skate. Lidstrom's first goal of the game came 50 seconds later off a slap shot from the top of the left circle.

Lidstrom's second of the game came on the power play 1:39 into the third period on a slap shot from inside the blue line. It was his fifth goal of the season.

NOTES: Detroit RW Todd Bertuzzi didn't play because of illness. RW Patrick Eaves missed his second game because of a sore back. Detroit recalled F Fabian Brunnstrom from Grand Rapids of the AHL, and he had an assist on Lidstrom's first goal.