Detroit won their 19th consecutive home game against the Anaheim Ducks thanks to some tough work in their own zone and a bit of luck on Friday night. It felt like Detroit got outplayed by the desperate Pacific Division team, but they were able to keep that all-important second goal out of their net and get to the skills competition where Todd Bertuzzi menaced the puck past Jonas Hiller for the game-winner.

The refs struggled to stay in control during this game and it certainly felt like they were running on an internal ledger to keep things even. The choppy officiating matched a level of choppy play that one might expect from these teams. It's hard to say who won the special teams battle here, as Detroit kept Anaheim 0-for-7 on the power paly, but also failed on all six of their chances, including an OT 5-on-3 that I'm hoping doesn't cost Detroit in a tiebreaker later on. Anaheim outshot Detroit 30-24, including 13-6 in a tight third period.

CSSI Methodology Explanation here

Goalie Ratings

Joey MacDonald was the player of the game in this one. He was under siege through most of the game's 2nd half and the Ducks were pressuring him by running at him all night too (to the tune of two penalties against them and a waved-off goal for it). He won the head-to-head battle against Jonas Hiller and will get a +1 for that. On the overall, MacDonald played very well, but did have to be bailed out on sure goals by his teammates twice. I was very worried about how aggressively he was playing on the puck in the first and 2nd periods, but he calmed down and made the saves he had to. MacDonald will get a +2 overall.

Scoring and plus/minus analysis after the jump

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In any prolonged streak of success, one must get a little luck. A bounce here, fortuitous circumstance there. In any sport, including hockey, one can't sustain a level of dominance for a very long time without winning a game or two by the skin of one's teeth.

That's exactly what the Wings did tonight. Against a very desperate Ducks team trying to climb back into the Western Conference race, the Wings were able to earn a very hard-fought 2 points by playing a grinding game and getting the game to a place where raw skill is key.

In a way, tonight was a lot like a playoff game where the Wings had a lead in the series and their opponent was trying to stave off elimination. After trading goals in the first (George Parros? Really?), the Ducks and Wings gave no quarter to the other through the next 2 periods (nor any nickel or penny). Neither team could capitalize on numerous power plays, pucks hit posts, great saves were made, and we headed to overtime.

The overtime period was more of the same. Both teams traded breakaways that were not converted, and the Wings were unable to take advantage of a short 2-man advantage late in the extra frame, and for the 8th time this season the Wings were involved in a shootout.

Pavel Datsyuk and Teemu Selanne both potted classy goals, Jiri Hudler and Corey Perry both had creepy porn-stache misses, and Todd Bertuzzi's super slo-mo goal turned out to be the game-winner as Bobby Ryan couldn't beat Joey MacDonald.

Of the last 19 home wins, this wasn't the prettiest, nor was it the easiest. But like the last 19 games at home, it ended with the Wings getting 2 points. Bullets after the jump.

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Unfortunately uniform changes during the intermissions aren't actually allowed. I'd love to see Detroit switch back to the Reds so maybe they'll actually play like they're at home.

Don't let the shot count fool you, Ducks are outskating them.

George Parros looks like Jake Gyllenhaal trying to sneak into a steel mill.

Wings get to start the 2nd on a kill.

Ducks continue to play dump-and-chase from their own side of center.

Keep up the fun.

While we're all getting amped up for next January, the battle for the Central continues to heat up. Sure, the Hawks might be struggling, but banking points to earn home ice is important. What would also be cool? Ending this pretender's hopes of crawling out of the basement and into the postseason.

Screw the Ducks.

Comment away and let's go Red Wings.

First off, Sport Illustrated ran a photo piece that listed the top 15 goalies in a shootout as voted by 186 players. I was astounded, no outraged, no pissed, no...*insert whatever you want synonym for angry* that Jimmy Howard didn't even MAKE the list. He's only given up 2 goals on 18 shootout attempts. If you look here you'll see that he's 3rd in shootout wins and 5th in save percentage. RIDICULOUS!!!!!

Now, on a semi more reasonable thought, ESPN Rumors made mention of the thought that because of the Winter Classic, Nick Lidstrom might be more apt to stick around the extra year to play in front of 115k people. I think its an interesting idea that he would stick around just for that game. Do you think he's more likely to stick around because of the Winter Classic?