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Anaheim Ducks veteran Teemu Selanne (center) says a lot of nights he thinks former Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom was smart to retire and avoid the grind of the lockout-shortened season.

(AP Photo)

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Teemu Selanne confirmed today what many Detroit Red Wings fans have feared since Nicklas Lidstrom retired a year ago.

The Red Wings are easier to play against without their longtime captain in the lineup.

Now, Selanne didn't say the Red Wings were a pushover by any means. Not after the Red Wings beat him and the Anaheim Ducks in back-to-back road games this season before losing Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series 3-1 Tuesday night at the Honda Center.

But he did say these Red Wings have a different look than in past years and the absence of Lidstrom, Detroit's former captain and seven-time Norris Trophy winner, is a big reason for that.

"Obviously in the past they have had a little more experience, guys like Lidstrom," said Selanne, who scored the winning goal in Game 1. "Obviously it's way easier to play now when Lidstrom's not in the lineup. But they are tough still. You have to play 60 minutes if you want to beat those guys.

"That's our challenge tonight."

The Ducks will be trying to take a 2-0 lead back to Detroit for Game 3 Saturday when they host the Red Wings tonight in Game 2. A loss tonight would give the Red Wings home-ice advantage with three of the final five games scheduled for Joe Louis Arena.

"We know what we have to do," Selanne said. "The starts and playing 60 minutes. In this league, if you can do that you're going to have success. Even 55 (minutes) a lot of nights, it's not enough. I know we can play better.

"We have to forget the first game and play tonight's game like it's the first game."

Selanne, 42, had 12 goals and 12 assists in 46 games during his 20th NHL season.

In some ways, it was the most difficult year of his career because of the lockout that wiped out the first three months of the season and forced teams to jam 48 games into 14 weeks.

"Obviously I got a couple games off last week," said Selanne, who led the NHL in goals with 76 as a rookie for Winnipeg in 1992-93. "It's really helped me. But this schedule this year has been really tough, especially for older guys.

"There are nights where there's nothing you can do. You just grind it out. Most nights I feel good so that's good news. But you have to do a lot of the right things to recover."

Considering Lidstrom made the decision to retire last May after his 20th season in the NHL and avoided the lockout-shortened season, does that mean his smarts off the ice matched them on the ice?

"There's a lot of nights I felt he made the right decision," Selanne said with a grin. "Like I said, it's something I haven't seen before with this schedule. It was tough for everybody but after the lockout you have to squeeze as many games in as you can and sometimes it's just almost impossible to recover from game to game. That's what I was worried about.

"Luckily our team wasn't faced with too many injuries. That's very important to have success, if everybody is healthy."

Selanne has been impressed with the way Henrik Zetterberg has replaced Lidstrom as Detroit's captain.

"Zetterberg is so smart," he said. "It's been a natural adjustment. The coach there tries to find a guy who is great for everybody and wants to take a lot of pride and cares about everybody.

"I think Zetterberg has done a great job. They've got a good group of guys. That's a key."

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