Red Wings Vs. Ducks: Kyle Palmieri's 2 Goals Fuel Anaheim To 4-0 Win Over Detroit

Playing without Corey Perry for the second straight game after his 272 consecutive game streak ended Monday night, the Anaheim Ducks would have to ask for extra help in the scoring department. In his second game since being called up for the first time since Feb. 1, Kyle Palmieri picked up the slack, playing on the top line and recording two goals in Anaheim's 4-0 victory over Detroit.

After the pre-game honors for Saku Koivu's 1000th career game, the first period was evenly-matched, but all it took for the Anaheim floodgates to open was a play by Cam Fowler, who tossed the puck toward the net from the blueline with two Ducks in Joey MacDonald's crease ready for the play. The player to bank it home was Teemu Selanne, registering his 1400th career point (no big deal, or anything).

The Palmieri portion of the show began when Brendan Smith of the Wings carelessly handled the puck in his own end, allowing Palmieri an easy takeaway, which he took to the net for a forehand-to-backhand goal. Less than three minutes later, Ryan Getzlaf's pass skipped by Palmieri, but made it to Bobby Ryan, who was in perfect position to get the loose puck over a fallen MacDonald. Originally, the assist was credited to Palmieri, but later on was given to Lubomir Visnovsky, ending a 15-game pointless stretch for the defenseman.

With the Ducks already up 3-0 going into the third, Palmieri topped off the scoring with another backhand goal where he changed speeds up and danced around the Detroit defense, making the play look rather easy.

Jonas Hiller's performance also helped earn the shutout, stopping all 23 Detroit shots. The 4-0 win for Anaheim was the first time in franchise history they shut out the Wings at home.

"I think I have to keep him a little longer," said Selanne about Palmieri. "He brings good karma here. Good luck. That's what we need." (via Eric Stephens)

The Ducks will need a lot of that -- they are still nine points back of the Colorado Avalanche for the eighth spot with 11 games left. Not mathematically eliminated, but still a stretch.

On Detroit's end, they played the Los Angeles Kings just the previous night, losing 5-1. Despite their home dominance, the Red Wings are now 16-20-1 on the road this season. They have one more game on their California road trip, playing in San Jose on Saturday.