Red Wings edge Ducks in opener

DETROIT - The Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks in the opener of the Western Conference finals with two ugly goals that must have looked awfully good to them.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored with 4:54 left in regulation on a shot that hit goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere before hitting the ice and trickling into the net, giving Detroit a 2-1 victory last night.

Henrik Zetterberg's shot deflected off a Duck and got past Giguere at 3:44 of the first period and Detroit held on to the lead for nearly two periods.

Chris Kunitz made it 1-all early in the third period with a shot from the slot that beat Dominik Hasek on the glove side. It was the first goal Hasek gave up in nearly 157 minutes.

With two stellar goaltenders and four Norris Trophy winners, it was, as expected, a low-scoring game.

Shortly after Lidstrom's goal, Anaheim had a chance to tie the game again on a power play and it pulled Giguere to make it a two-man advantage, but they couldn't score.

Hasek made 31 saves and Giguere stopped 17 shots.

Game 2 is tomorrow night in Detroit before the series shifts to Anaheim. *