DETROIT — Predictably, the Ducks and Detroit Red Wings had markedly different takes Friday night on Ducks rookie winger Mike Brown’s first-period, neutral-zone hit on Jiri Hudler that left the Detroit winger gushing blood from above his left eye.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, whose club pulled out a 3-2 victory in the opening game of the second-round Stanley Cup playoff series, called it “a vicious, dirty hit,” while Detroit’s Johan Franzen termed it “a dirty play — an obvious hit to the head.”

Hudler, who returned for the start of the second period, deferred regarding Brown’s intent, and said he believed the cut resulted from his own visor.

“They can say all they want about a dirty hit,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “That’s not a dirty hit in hockey. You’re allowed to take the body in this game. He didn’t hit him with his elbow. He hit him with his shoulder, and Hudler was admiring his pass.

“We timed the hit. From the time he passed the puck until the time Mike Brown made contact with him, there wasn’t a second went off the clock. It was at 8:36 (left), and the clock did not move by the time he had made contact. The video doesn’t lie.”

Brown could face scrutiny, and perhaps a suspension, from the NHL.

“I just hit him with my shoulder,” Brown said. “My elbow wasn’t up. My stick wasn’t up. It was just a clean hit. I wasn’t meaning to do any harm or anything. I was just playing physical.

“His head was down. I think they called it because he was cut and on the ice, but I think that was probably because of his visor. He had just gotten rid of the puck. It wasn’t late or anything.”