The Detroit Red Wings made it into the playoffs after a final push down the stretch of the regular season, keeping a two decade-plus postseason streak alive and clinching the seventh seed in the process to set up a Western conference first round matchup in the Stanley Cup playoffs against the two seeded Anaheim Ducks.
The Red Wings made it into the playoffs ahead of the Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, who clinched the eighth seed and a series against the Chicago Blackhawks to make the playoffs for the first time in five years. The Honda Center will host the first games of the series and the two teams have plenty of history together in the postseason, as they have faced off against each other six times over the past 16 years and for the first time since 2009 when the Red Wings prevailed. Teemu Selanne played in a number of those games and he will be one of the primary options on offense for the Ducks on Tuesday night.
Ryan Getzlaf has had an excellent season for the Ducks and the team got off to nearly as good of a start as the Blackhawks to take the two seed in the Western conference. The team finished 30-12-6 and are looking to have a repeat of 2007 when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup. The team went 22-3-4 to start the season and despite slumping a bit towards the end of the year, the team finished with the third best record in the conference while winning their division. Goalie Jonas Hiller has been excellent for the Ducks all year and so far coach Bruce Boudreau hasn't decided who will start, with the other option being Viktor Fasth, who has also been solid.
Jimmy Howard will be in net for the Red Wings and he has put together another excellent year in goal, winning 21 games for the team during the season and he also led the league after posting five shutouts. Howard's play has given the Red Wings the chance to make the postseason, as Detroit was on the outside looking in some time ago before turning it on. The team ranked fifth in goals scored and 19th in scoring and 12th on the penalty kill. The Ducks ranked eighth in scoring and ninth in goals against while ranking fourth in the league in power play percentage.
