Ducks clip Red Wings in Motown

DETROIT— Justin Abdelkader lined Toni Lydman up and launched himself into the Anaheim defenceman, knocking him over and sending the Detroit crowd into a frenzy.

Those cheers turned to boos soon enough. Abdelkader’s hit left the Red Wings short-handed, and the Ducks took advantage.

Nick Bonino scored on the power play 18 seconds after Abdelkader was ejected for his hit on Lydman, and Anaheim went on to a 4-0 victory Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead over the Red Wings in the Western Conference playoffs.

Abdelkader appeared to catch Lydman square in the side of the head with his left shoulder, and he was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct with 4:49 remaining in the second period.

“From what I gather, the league has done a pretty good job with these things, and I’m not going to say anything,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Mr. Shanahan can look at it.”

Mr. Shanahan, of course, is Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s senior vice-president of hockey operations and player safety. Abdelkader’s hit already cost the Wings in Game 3.

The question now is whether he’ll face additional discipline from the league.

“His shoulder hit his shoulder, and the kid went down hard. They called it a major. I’m not involved in the next part of the process,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I didn’t think he was up. I didn’t think his arms were up or anything.”

Lydman was slow getting up and was eventually helped to the bench. He did not return, and Boudreau said after the game Lydman had a headache.

Abdelkader wasn’t in the locker room when reporters were allowed in after the game.

“It looked like he made contact with his head. It’s a hockey play but it wasn’t intentional,” Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler said.