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 Detroit began a four-game road trip with the first of back-to-back games against Pacific Division leaders, who beat the Red Wings 5-2 in their only other meeting on Feb. 15 at Joe Louis Arena. The teams meet again on Sunday at Honda Center.
Jimmy Howard allowed fewer than three goals for the eighth time in his past nine starts and had 33 saves.
Coming off an emotional come-from-behind 4-2 home win over Chicago in a game featuring the teams with the top two records in the NHL, the Ducks couldn't extend the momentum against Detroit, which turned several defensive mistakes into goals.
The Red Wings chased goalie Viktor Fasth to the bench after he gave up Abdelkader's second of the game at 3:06 of the second period to make it 3-1.
Fasth, who faced just 11 shots, came in 6-0 at home while giving up just eight goals.
Abdelkader, who had three previous multi-goal games in his career, posted the Red Wings' second hat trick of the season at 12:46 of the second when he beat Jonas Hiller to the stick side with a one-timer from the slot after Johan Franzen set him up for the second straight time. The four-year veteran left wing had only three goals in his first 30 games this season.
Franzen was trying to set up Abdelkader again when his centering pass deflected into the net off the stick of a Ducks defender with 4:43 to play. Franzen was credited with the goal and Abdelkader had an assist.
Teemu Selanne scored for the Ducks, whose only other loss at Honda Center was on Jan. 25 when Vancouver beat them 5-0 in the home opener. Their record dipped to 22-4-4, still three points behind the idle Blackhawks for the best record in the league.
Ducks right wing Corey Perry returned to the lineup after serving a four-game suspension without pay for his elbow to the head of Minnesota's Jason Zucker on March 12
-- which earned him a 5-minute major for interference and a game misconduct.
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It was Perry's first game since signing an eight-year, $69 million contract extension on Monday, and the Ducks were 3-0-1 in his absence.
Howard got a break at 6:45 of the first period when a video replay overturned a goal by rookie Emerson Etem, who was ruled to have directed the puck into the net with his left skate after knocking it out of the air with his stick below the crossbar.
But the Ducks opened the scoring at 11:31 when Selanne got a return pass in the slot from Kyle Palmieri and one-timed it past Howard's outstretched left leg for his eighth goal of the season and 671st of his career.
Detroit tied it at 13:36 when Abdelkader carried the puck into the zone after a pass from Brendan Smith, stickhandled around Sheldon Souray in the right circle and cut in front of the net before stuffing the puck between Fasth's pads. Howard was credited with an assist.
Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf was sent off for hooking Valtteri Filppula at 14:59 of the first and Datsyuk capitalized 44 seconds later, backhanding his 10th goal of the season and 250th of his career into a wide-open net after Fasth made the save on Damien Brunner's short wrist shot.
Abdelkader made it 3-1 at 3:06 of the second period, getting a cross-ice pass in the right circle from Franzen and beating Fasth to the short side with a wrist shot over the goalie's glove.
NOTES: Abdelkader, who signed a four-year, $7.2 million contract on Sept. 14, had eight goals and 14 assists in 81 games last season for Detroit. ... Datsyuk earned his 500th NHL assist on Abdelkader's third goal. ... Datsyuk extended the Red Wings' streak of consecutive games with a power-play goal to six. ... The Ducks, who came in with the league's second-best power play, are only 1 for 21 over their past nine games. ... The Ducks' remaining schedule includes back-to-back sets against San Jose and Edmonton, and a stretch of three consecutive games against Dallas.
[Associated
Press]
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