Red Wings 6 Ducks 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa each scored twice to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night, tying the Western Conference semifinal series at two games each.
After Franzen scored two first-period goals, Hossa broke a 2-2 tie with goals in a 3:05 span of the second period.
Franzen added an assist on Hossa’s first goal,
Game 5 is Sunday in Detroit, and Game 6 is Tuesday night in Anaheim.
Mikael Samuelsson also scored, Henrik Zetterberg added an empty-netter, and Valterri Flippula had two assists for the Red Wings.
Chris Osgood made 25 saves for Detroit, while the Red Wings were able to chase Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller after Samuelsson’s goal early in the third.
Hiller, who had made 59 saves in the Ducks’ 4-3 triple-overtime win in Game 2 and 45 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 3, allowed five goals on 33 shots before being replaced by Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Corey Perry had two goals and an assist for Anaheim. Scott Niedermayer also scored, and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.
Perry took a feed from Chris Pronger and swiftly moved down the right wing before whisking a slap shot inside the far post just 42 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Anaheim continued to control play, building a 5-1 shot advantage before the Red Wings got on track.
Franzen tied it, beating Hiller with a quick wrist shot from the high slot off a drop pass from Flippula. Franzen then deflected in Niklas Kronwall’s point shot with 36 seconds remaining in the first to make it 2-1.
Franzen has shown a significant ability to raise his game in the post-season.
During the Red Wings’ championship run last year, the Swede scored 12 goals in his first 12 playoff games before sustaining a concussion against Dallas. After missing six games, he scored a goal in the Cup final.
Wasting little time returning to that form this season, Franzen leads Detroit with six post-season goals and he generated at least a point in each of the Red Wings’ first six playoff games before being shut down by the Ducks in Game 3.
Franzen responded Thursday with his first multi-goal game of this post-season. He had three multigoal games, including two three-goal games, last year.