ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Detroit Red Wings need to establish a much better forecheck Thursday in Game 2 against Anaheim.

Moving the puck out of their zone is the first step. The Red Wings didn't do a good job of that in their 3-1 loss in Tuesday's opener of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

“We didn’t execute very well coming out of our own zone,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We didn’t have a lot of speed, therefore we didn’t have attack time.

“I thought we forechecked real poorly. I didn’t think we had much energy on our forecheck. When you get a chance to go back for the puck you want to execute the first time and get moving. And if you don’t, you spend too much time in your own zone and when it’s time to forecheck you’re changing your line. You never spend any time in their zone.''

The Ducks' big, physical forwards can make it really hard on opposing defensemen, forcing them to make bad plays with the puck.

“We have to get on their D. That’s the backbone of their team,'' Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. “If you can get to those guys, try to force them to make plays that they don’t want to make. It makes it a lot easier on our group when (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg and those guys don’t have the puck in open ice.”

Detroit's Niklas Kronwall said the defensemen must get the puck to the forwards as soon as possible and while they're in motion.

“I think a lot of times when we end up in trouble is when we don't make that first tape-to-tape pass,'' Kronwall said. “We tried to look for something better and when it's not there, that's when we end up in trouble. We have to do a better job of getting back to the puck a lot quicker and when we do get the puck make sure it goes to one of our guys.''

Zetterberg said forwards must help.

“We have to be in right spots,'' Zetterberg said. “If we’re in the right spots (the defensemen) will give us the puck. At the same time we have to hold up their people. It’s not easy for (his defensemen) to make a good play if they have guys on them right away.''