History on Red Wings' side

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings' superior depth and offensive firepower haven't been enough to put away the Anaheim Ducks. The defending Stanley Cup champions hope history and home ice will lend them a hand tonight in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit is 11-7 all-time in Game 7, including 10-4 at home. And home teams have prevailed in 63 percent of seventh games in NHL playoff history. "It's one of the reasons you battle so hard during the regular season, to gain that home-ice advantage," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We feel comfortable playing Game 7 at home." They also know anything is possible in a winner-take-all scenario. A hot goaltender could steal the game. An unlucky bounce or two could decide it. The winner will meet the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals. "We knew it was going to be a tight series, it's not really a big surprise it's going seven games," Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said. "You don't get that opportunity often, especially the chance to do it at home. Just play a solid game, and we'll have a good chance of winning." The Red Wings , who have lost three one-goal games, realize they could have wrapped this up sooner. They have outshot Anaheim 262-166 -- an average margin of 44-28 per game -- and have controlled the pace for long stretches. Starts, however, have been crucial. The Ducks are outscoring the Red Wings 12-11 through two periods, while Detroit has dominated the third period, holding a 7-1 edge in goals. "Just got to have more of a sense of urgency from the start," Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart said. Detroit has received huge performances in this series from Johan Franzen (team-leading six goals) and Zetterberg, who leads the team with eight points each. Pavel Datsyuk, meanwhile, is struggling, with no goals and two assists in the series and just one goal and four points in 10 playoff games. For the Ducks, Ryan Getzlaf, who faltered midway through the series, came back strong in Game 6 with a goal and an assist. He leads all players in the series with 10 points (two goals, eight assists). The Red Wings say the key tonight is whether they can make it difficult on Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller. They did that in each of their three wins, crowding the net to block his vision, getting deflections and rebounds, and testing him with quality shots. They said they were kept to the outside too much in their 2-1 loss in Game 6. "He's a goalie that when he sees it, he can stop it," Detroit's Dan Cleary said. "You got to get traffic and second chances. When you get second chances, you wear out their defense, stay in the zone an extra 10 or 15 seconds. Over the course of the game, that can wear on (a team). We got to stay at the net and be harder on loose pucks." This will be the first Game 7 of Hiller's career. Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood is 1-3 all-time in seventh games, including 1-1 with Detroit (3-2 loss to San Jose in 1994, 1-0 double-overtime victory against St. Louis in 1996). For all the playoff experience both clubs have, seventh games are mostly unfamiliar territory. The Ducks have played three Game 7s in their history (2-1), the last coming during the first round in 2006 (3-0 win at Calgary). Of the players expected to dress tonight for the Red Wings , eight have played in a Game 7. Kirk Maltby is one of four who appeared in the team's last Game 7 seven years ago -- a 7-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche in the conference finals. Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom and Kris Draper, who has been out due to injury, also played in that game. "As a group, we were pretty calm," Maltby said. "You know what's at skate, there's no sense in making more out of it than what it is. "We've hung our hat on the experience this team has gone through. A lot of guys here the last two to three years have been through a lot of ups and downs during the course of the playoffs, and I think that's going to go a long way." The Ducks are 5-3 in their past eight playoff games in Detroit. Still, there is no place the Red Wings would rather be tonight. "I don't think it's going to be a big advantage unless we come out and get the crowd going, use their energy to feed our energy," Stuart said. "We can't get complacent.