(My Sportsbook) - The second-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals when they host the Anaheim Ducks this afternoon at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings were champions of the Central Division this year and are aiming for their second straight Stanley Cup title. Detroit is trying to become the first club to repeat as Cup champions since the 1997 and '98 Red Wings claimed back-to-back crowns.

In fact, this series pits the last two Stanley Cup champions against each other, as the Ducks won it all in 2007 to earn the franchise's first-ever title.

Following today's test, this series will shift to southern California for Games 3 and 4 with Anaheim scheduled to host the third test on Tuesday.

Detroit pulled out a dramatic victory in Game 1, as captain Nicklas Lidstrom scored his second goal of the contest with just 49.1 seconds left in regulation to lift the Red Wings to the 3-2 decision over the eighth-seeded Ducks.

Johan Franzen provided the other score for the Red Wings, who have won five consecutive games to open the playoffs and have taken six straight beyond the regular season dating back to Game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit ousted Pittsburgh in six games last spring to win the title and swept Columbus in the opening round of this postseason.

Chris Osgood won his fifth game of this postseason with 22 saves and also registered an assist. Osgood has stopped 125-of-134 shots this postseason and has a .933 save percentage and 1.80 goals against average over the five games. The veteran netminder struggled during the regular season with a 3.09 GAA and .887 save percentage.

Detroit picked up the win despite the absence of defenseman and power-play specialist Brian Rafalski, who missed the game with an undisclosed upper-body injury and is out again for today's battle. Rafalski had one goal and two assists in the conference quarters against Columbus and tallied 59 points (10 goals, 49 assists) during the regular season.

Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne scored for the Ducks, who are coming off an upset over Presidents' Trophy winner San Jose in a six-game first-round victory.

Jonas Hiller suffered the loss despite stopping 34-of-37 shots. The Swiss netminder is 4-3 with a 1.84 GAA and .951 save percentage in this year's playoffs.

The Red Wings and Ducks have met on four occasions in the postseason, with each team winning two series. Anaheim, however, has won the last two playoff encounters, including a six-game triumph over Detroit two years ago in the conference finals.

Detroit won three out of four against the Ducks during the 2008-09 regular season and was held to fewer than four goals in just one of those matchups.

The Red Wings had a 27-9-5 record as the host this year, while the Ducks posted a solid 22-15-4 mark as the visiting club.