Then the Ducks came to town Oct. 8 and left Little Caesars Arena with a 3-1 victory.
"Ironically, that was a game that by all measures we should have won; certainly the first two periods we were the better team, the third period they were the better team," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We lost the game. They're a good team, they've been through like most teams, ups and downs. They forecheck hard, their D are hard down the walls on the forecheck, they're a good O-zone team, they do a little different in terms of their neutral zone regroup than most teams in the league. So we got to be aware of that.
"The biggest thing is our own game, we just got to play great hockey, we got to make sure we're fast out of our end, fast through the neutral zone with lots of speed, so we can be on top of them and have good forecheck presence and play in the O-zone."
The Wings come into Anaheim's Honda Center on a two-game winning streak, having beaten the Boston Bruins last Friday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
"I think we have understood you play good hockey, you give yourself a chance to win," Blashill said. "I think probably where the confidence matters the most right now for us is on our specialty teams. I think both of them feel better about themselves than they did a couple games ago, but you got to be relentless and you got to keep going back out and proving it. You build confidence with good hockey and you build confidence with winning, so let's find a way to win a hockey game tonight."
In those two victories over the Bruins and Golden Knights, the Wings scored three power-play goals, two by newly acquired forward Robby Fabbri and one by Andreas Athanasiou.
"Just puck movement and using each other," defenseman Dennis Cholowski said of the man-advantage improvement. "We've been slinging the puck around pretty well and also getting the puck to the net with traffic in front is big. We definitely have the talent and skilled guys to do it, we just have to play the right way and continue to get the puck to the net and work hard."
The Ducks have lost their last three home games, one in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks and the last two in regulation to the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers.
However, the Ducks have won three of the last four against the Wings and three straight against them at home.
"Good team, always been a big, physical team, they have some skill, too," Cholowski said. "They also have some younger guys that I recognize names, so it should be a fun night and competitive game."
SMITH BACK WITH WINGS: While it's never optimal to have a player get injured, it always means there's an opportunity for someone else.
When Justin Abdelkader blocked a shot late in the third period against the Golden Knights, he suffered a mid-body injury that is expected to keep him out at least three weeks.