The second round playoff series between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, tied at one game apiece, shifted to Joe Louis Arena for Game 3 on Monday night. Even though the Blackhawks offense opened up to the tune of 40 shots, doubling their total from Game 2, Jimmy Howard stood tall in net for the Red Wings and carried his team to a 3-1 victory.

Quick strikes from bottom-six forwards Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller in the second period put the Blackhawks in a hole from which they would not get out. Patrick Kane scored for the second consecutive game, but Howard came up with the save on the rest of Chicago’s 39 shots, including saves on 16 of the 17 shots he faced against the Hawks late push in the third period.

Viktor Stalberg suited up for the Blackhawks after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the series. It looked like his night might end early when on his first shift the game, Jakub Kindl ducked a check, sending Stalberg head first into the boards. He was slow to get up but eventually skated off under his own power. After a few minutes in the locker room, Stalberg returned to the bench.

The Hawks got off to a fast start in the first, putting 15 shots on Howard in the first 20 minutes. Joel Quenneville‘s new first line of Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa was part of the fast start with great looks from Hossa and Toews early in the first. The team came up empty on two powerplay chances in the first, but both units were able to possess the puck and sustain some pressure in the Detroit end of the ice.

Detroit had their share of chances in the first, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each had good looks, but Corey Crawford turned away all nine shots that he faced in the opening stanza.

The Blackhawks failed on their third powerplay early in the second period, but the team was successful in gaining some momentum. They hemmed the Wings into their own zone for an extra minute after the advantage, but still could not get the puck past Howard.

Play opened up eventually and the team’s began to trade chances at either end. Gustav Nyquist was the first to break through on an excellent rush through and around the Blackhawks defense. Damien Brunner sprung Nyquist up the wing with speed and into the Blackhawks zone. He dragged the puck between the stick and feet of Brent Seabrook and broke into the middle of the ice. Crawford came out on top of his crease, but Nyquist waited and skated until the net opened up and lifted the puck over Crawford’s outstretched stick, giving the Red Wings the 1-0 lead.

Only 31 seconds later, Drew Miller put the Red Wings up 2-0. Michal Rozsival flubbed a clearing attempt and it was picked off by Cory Emmerton, who made a quick pass to Patrick Eaves closer to the net. Eaves skated it towards the crease, his first shot hitting Crawford in the chest and bouncing out and his second whack off the pad. The puck was loose in the crease and Johnny Oduya tried to sweep it out of trouble from his stomach, but Miller dove into the crease and deflected the puck over the goal line.

The Blackhawks could hardly get their wind back in the second, amassing just eight shots in the middle period despite a pair of powerplay chances. There were more looks than that as the defensemen were active in getting the puck towards the goal, including one chance in which Niklas Hjalmarsson drew iron on a shot that rattled through the traffic.

After an early penalty kill in the third period, the Blackhawks charged back into the game. Patrick Sharp broke into the Detroit zone for a shot on goal with one of the few odd-man rushes the Hawks had seen to that point of the game.

Patrick Kane finally got the Blackhawks on the board 4:35 into the third period. Duncan Keith sent a tall backhand saucer pass out of his own zone to Kane breaking towards the Detroit blue line. A couple fortunate bounces and Kane was able to skate right into the puck, shielding it away from a stick check by Brendan Smith. Kane settled the puck enough to rip it through the five-hole to make it a 2-1 game.

Johan Franzen was down on the ice behind the Blackhawks net after being rubbed out along the boards by Niklas Hjalmarsson. Play was not whistled dead and Kane’s rush was allowed to continue, just like when Stalberg was down and Gustav Nyquist’s rush was allowed to continue until he lost control of the puck.

Just over a minute later, the Blackhawks third line thought they had tied the game but the goal was quickly called off by referee Brad Watson. Andrew Shaw was ruled to have been in the crease and impeding Howard’s ability to play his position, despite not making any noticeable contact with the goalie or appearing to prevent Howard from playing Stalberg’s shot the way he intended.

The Blackhawks had a few more looks on the next couple shifts following the disallowed goal, but Pavel Datsyuk scored at 6:46 to extend the Red Wings lead back to two goals. Johan Franzen entered the zone and drew the defender Rozsival before dishing the puck to Datsyuk. He skated in and unleashed a laser wrist shot over the shoulder of Crawford. The shot hit the back of the pipe inside the net and bounced out so quickly that only the Red Wings forwards knew it had gone in.

The Blackhawks continued to push, with the likes of Toews, Kane, Sharp, and Hossa skating frequent shifts towards the end, but they were not helped by having to kill a couple penalties off down the stretch. Viktor Stalberg may have come the closest to giving the visiting team new life, but he drew iron after a huge burst of speed to pick up a loose puck saw him drive in all alone against Howard.

Game Notes:

- The Blackhawks penalty kill has now successfully killed off 29 consecutive powerplays during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

- Plenty of hits (advantage Detroit, 28-22) and the most active game as far as the post-whistle discussions. The Wings dished out a beating around their net, with Jonathan Toews (7 shots) catching the brunt of it. Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell were also in the middle of a lot extracurriculars, each drawing a penalty in the final minute of the game.

- Faceoffs ended 37-29 in favor of Detroit, although that total looks closer than it did throughout much of the game. Toews finished 5-for-12 against Zetterberg while Marcus Kruger (4-for-12) and Dave Bolland (4-for-13) also brought down the team average.

- 3 Stars of the Game: 3. Niklas Hjalmarsson… 2. Drew Miller… 1. Jimmy Howard.

- Game 4 is Thursday at 7pm central.

Brad Gardner

In addition to the game wraps for TheThirdManIn.com, Brad Gardner covers the Blackhawks and serves as the Western Conference Editor at Hockey’s Future.

Three days after the Chicago Blackhawks took a 4-1 victory in Game 1 of their second round playoff series against rival Detroit, the Red Wings responded in kind with a 4-1 win of their own to even the series. Henrik Zetterberg assisted on two goals for Detroit as the visitors handed the ‘Hawks their first home loss of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Red Wings’ tight-checking game didn’t give the Blackhawks nearly as much room to operate as they had in the latter stages of the first game. The puck possession time favored Detroit, and even when the Hawks were able to get a shot on goal, they did not challenge Jimmy Howard too much. The Red Wings goalie made 19 saves on only 20 shots, the lowest total for the Blackhawks in the playoffs.

Corey Crawford made 26 saves on 30 shots and did not look as sharp as the Blackhawks had come to expect of him in the playoffs. He battled a lot of traffic in Game 2 and most of the goals he gave up came against odd-man rushes, so the loss can’t be hung on the goaltending alone.

Detroit came out and skated with Chicago from the drop of the puck and the teams traded offensive possessions through much of the first period. The Jonathan Toews line earned a few looks while Crawford came up big against good looks from Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader on the top lines and the skilled combination of Gustav Nyquist and Damien Brunner farther down the lineup.

Although Chicago’s initial powerplay opportunity was killed off midway through the first period, Patrick Kane scored his first goal of the playoffs at the 14:05 mark of the opening period to put the home team up 1-0. Johnny Oduya controlled a Red Wings dump-in against Henrik Zetterberg on the forecheck and cleared the puck to the neutral zone. Patrick Sharp lifted the stick of Brendan Smith in the neutral zone and chased the puck into the offensive zone. His initial crossing pass was blocked by Kyle Quincey, but the puck bounced right to Michal Handzus. He settled the puck on his forehand before firing a puck over for Kane’s one-time blast, catching Jimmy Howard in-between and with little chance to stop the shot.

The Blackhawks took the lead into the intermission, but Detroit came out and had a dominant second period, holding Chicago to just five shots on goal in the middle frame and taking the 2-1 lead with a pair of goals.

Damien Brunner tied the game less than three minutes into the second period on a deflection. Jakub Kindl shot the puck from the blue line and Brunner was able to catch a piece of the puck in the slot, knocking it just inside the post wide of Crawford. The initial shot itself was shielded by a lot of traffic, coupled with the deflection, and Crawford didn’t have much of a chance to keep the tying goal out of his net.

The Wings continued to control play through the second period, and with just under four minutes left in the second, Brendan Smith gave the Red Wings their first lead of the series after finishing off a centering pass from Zetterberg. The defenseman had gone down to the ice in his own zone, and by the time he jumped into the offensive play, Duncan Keith and Crawford were unprepared for a play to the weak side. Zetterberg sent an accurate centering pass from below the goal line and Smith beat Patrick Sharp to the doorstep to make the score 2-1 late in the second period.

Even with the Blackhawks needing to score the next goal, Detroit’s skating  and puck possession continued to limit the Hawks chances. Johan Franzen eventually got that next goal to extend the Red Wings lead to 3-1 at 7:19 of the third period. Jonathan Ericsson’s pass from his own defensive zone sprung Franzen on a breakaway against Niklas Hjalmarsson, who did not have the same amount of speed built up. Franzen drove in on his off-wing and his short-side wrist shot deflected off of Crawford’s shoulder and into the top corner of the net.

Valtteri Filppula all but sealed the win at 12:03 of the third period on another goal off the rush. Dave Bolland won a faceoff back to Brent Seabrook, but Zetterberg beat everybody to the puck and pushed it in transition. He dropped a pass to Filppula, who drove to the net, path cleared by Dan Cleary’s drive to the net that eliminated Nick Leddy from the play, and was able to sweep a backhand attempt wide of Crawford. Bolland got a shot on Filppula on the backcheck, but he was still able to score as he went down to the ice.

The Blackhawks didn’t put up much more of a fight in the third period, putting up a total seven shots in final 20 minutes.

Game Notes:

- The Blackhawks penalty kill was perfect against four Red Wings powerplays. The Chicago powerplay also came up empty on two chances.

- With the win, the Red Wings became the first road team to win a game in the second round of the NHL playoffs.

- The Blackhawks total of 20 shots was uncharacteristically low, particularly in the postseason. It was not the lowest total of the season, however, as the Hawks managed only 19 shots in Ray Emery’s 47-save shootout win in Calgary.

-  Joel Quenneville juggled lines, particularly after Detroit took the lead. Nothing stuck, but safe to say he was looking for some combination that could get some consistent pressure beyond the top line. The Toews line accounted for half of the Blackhawks shots, with Saad leading the team with five.

- The Rozsival/Oduya pairing finished a plus-1 in Game 2, but the rest of the defensemen finished with a minus-2 rating.

- The Blackhawks led in the hit column 36-26, led by Daniel Carcillo (7) and Brent Seabrook (6).

- 3 Stars of the Game: 3. Niklas Kronwall… 2. Henrik Zetterberg… 1. Damien Brunner.

- The team’s will take the ice at Joe Louis Arena on Monday for a pivotal Game 3, scheduled for a 7:30 central start time.

Brad Gardner

In addition to the game wraps for TheThirdManIn.com, Brad Gardner covers the Blackhawks and serves as the Western Conference Editor at Hockey’s Future.

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

By Rich Lindbloom

And just like that, it’s over. Blink your eyes, and the moment is gone, sequestered away in a cobweb of tangled neurons. It was subtle, beautiful and irrepressible. There is so much going on in such a short window of time. As Edna St. Vincent Millay noted; “April, comes like an idiot, babbling, and strewing flowers.” Indeed, it’s hard to keep up with it all.

Interspersed with the anticipation of the next Hawk game, I’ve also been paying close attention to that seemingly one week window just before nature’s version of an offensive explosion takes place. (More on offensive explosions in a moment.) It’s a week marked by a soft, subtle shade of green, (there’s no other green like it, not even on the Emerald Isle), as the anxious buds on trees begin to unfold. I look forward to that brief window of luminescent green as much as I do watching the Lily of the Valleys pierce the ground with the earnestness of a St Louis Blues fore checker. Trust me, the flower smells much better than the Blues player and is a lot more pleasant to gaze upon.

Spring is such a busy time of year. It’s frenetic pace seems to be a hallmark of the season. We’ve had a highly enthusiastic cardinal whistling outside our bedroom window at 4:40am for about two weeks now; I’m not sure if she has amorous desires or is trying to get her red mate busy building the nest. Is it just me, or does the thick, dark green grass seem to grow faster than Kentucky Derby champion Orb coming down the stretch. Windows are flung open, letting in the sweet smell of the Cherry Blossom tree which momentarily resembles a huge snow ball. It’s a sick individual who can pass a Lilac bush and not enjoy it’s wonderful scent.

Unquestionably, it’s very hard to sit on your duff in Spring – you just want to be outside doing something after the cold, bleak winter days. My wife has a veritable green thumb, earnestly transforming the dismal into the beautiful. Can you ever have enough flowers? Walking the dogs at 10pm in shorts, sandals and a tee shirt almost elicits an “In your face winter” exclamation as we tend to stretch the walks a block or two more. In short, Spring is a season that beckons us to step outside.

All this brings me to two indisputable conclusions; afternoon games are a terrible idea and if you want to win hockey playoff games, you’d better smell like dirt when the final horn sounds.

First off, on May 5, the 2pm start against the Wild caused me much internal consternation. After waiting weeks for those glorious spring days, I struggled with putzing around the yard or sitting in front of a flat screen for the better part of three hours. It seemed there were so many better uses of my time that afternoon. I could have been pulling weeds out of the garden, or trying to smooth the hitch in my spasmodic golf swing. Perhaps a long bike ride with Nathalie, punctuated by a refreshing drink at an outdoor café and deep conversation about our feelings. At least this had the possibility of leading to other very pleasurable activities. You get the picture I’m sure – and no doubt realize what I ended up doing.

It reminds me of that old saying, “They spent the fine spring day like true Irishmen. Tucked in the snug of a dark and dank pub.” The dilemma that afternoon hockey games create reminds me of my favorite Police song Bring on the Night;

“Bring on the night
I couldn’t stand another hour of daylight.”

If you’ve never heard that song, do yourself a favor and Google it. For one reason or another, the song is never played over the air waves. Andy Summers exquisite lead on that song is one of the best you’ll ever hear, bar none. That song, like hockey, is meant to be played at night – period.

Secondly, if you want to come up smelling like a flower in the playoffs, you need to smell like dirt at the end of the game. Winning hockey teams have numerous players who have a penchant for getting their noses dirty. I’m fairly certain no one doubts what Kruger and Frolik smell like after a game. Sometimes I think those two are just praying for one of the Hawk meatballs to take a dumb penalty so they can get some ice time. It seems to me they should be getting more than 6 minutes of ice time per game. Actually, one of our filthiest lines – Bicks/Shaw/Stals – was scrambled up a bit for Game One against the Hawks long time nemesis, the Red Army.

I don’t think the Hawks have a harder working line than our third line. It’s dominated the opposition all season, smothering the puck deep in the opposition’s zone with regularity. So it was with considerable befuddlement that I noticed #25 conspicuously absent from the starting lineup. I texted a friend and asked him if Coach Q had ingested some stupid pills. Truly, I felt as if my brain was going to explode like a pimple on a mirror during my adolescent days. If Coach Q would have sat Saad in Game One, (he was temporarily knocked off the Hawks first four lines in practice this past week), I think the Hawk faithful would have started impeachment proceedings. This is just me thinking again, but this is the wrong time of the season to nurse grudges.

What startled me the most was how many knowledgeable bloggers admitted they were ok with Coach Q’s decision. I vehemently disagree-I witnessed almost every game this season and feel Stalberg made great strides (yuk, yuk), as player, contributing greatly to the Hawks success. Maybe Coach Q is intimidated by his handsomeness.

Victory masks a lot of sins however, and I can’t help but think there is considerable “Panic In Detroit” at the moment. Things could change of course, but for now at least the zebra’s would have to work overtime to make these games close. The Wing’s fans best hope for something to cheer about in this series would be to get excited when someone gets “Kronwalled.” Kronwall, who is a notch above Raffi Torres on the NHL douchenozzle chain, came close to launching the fleet footed Frolik into Never Never Land. Apparently “Tinker Bell” heard the Hawk bench screaming to look up as the sinister #55 lined up his unsuspecting prey. Nice assist Hawk bench.

I know this is stupid to say, but I would gladly substitute a Hawk win if it meant Kronwall would have to be assisted from the ice, temporarily at least. Why has no one straightened this head hunter out? Where have you gone John Ferguson, a hockey league turns its lonely eyes to you.

Justin Abdelkader, who recently served a two game suspension for a dastardly deed in the Anaheim series, has almost made the Hawk fans forget about Kronwall as Public Enemy #1. Although it appeared Rozsival “might” have got his stick up a little too high, Abdelkader may think twice about taking a run at possibly Stan Bowman’s best acquisition last summer. It’s a possibility that Abdelkader has a future in the Rodeo if the hockey thing doesn’t work out. He did everything but hog tie Bolland in his center ice, WWF, smackdown of Bolland.  I don’t know if #8 is losing any sleep over it, but the words he and The Rat exchanged as the refs stepped between them, would probably not fall under the title of exchanging pleasantries. I’m pretty sure Bolland just kept repeating, “I’ll cut you with my blade, I’ll cut you with my blade.”

Bolland appeared to be well rested and had one of his better games of the season. His break away attempt came about two inches short after he put a world class move on Jimmy Howard. The attempt reminded me of Bolland’s breakaway goal against Nabokov in Game 4 of the Conference Finals in 2010. Howard, who a decent game, somehow managed to get his big toe on the puck though, thwarting the irascible Rat.

Actually, Howard was pretty spectacular, keeping the Hawks at bay through two periods. Howards attempted highway robbery was highlighted by the “Stella Artois, Testicular Save” of the night. It came when Tazer decided to set up Saad, (I think), who was barreling down the slot. #19 had the puck all to his lonesome just outside Howard’s cage. When he dished off to Saad, Howard came about 8 feet outside the goal to cut down the angle. It was a great save, although a bit risky if a rebound would have presented itself.

The dam finally burst though in the third period after intense, sustained pressure in the Red Wing zone. I think it was Jon Fromi who noted, “Most of the 2^nd and 3^rd periods were contested in Detroit’s end of the pond.” The offensive explosion that ensued could only be described as a paddling. This might seem very weird since I was watching the game alone, but when Oduya banked one off the pipe to put the Hawks up 2-1, I started clapping and cheering vociferously, by myself! Well, the dogs were there also, but they didn’t get too worked up about it.

Of course the United Center erupted. Although I longed to be there, with the “bargain” price of $92/ticket for season ticket holders in Section 320 for the playoffs, one has to think long and hard about where that money could be put to better use. This, coupled with next year’s season ticket increases have me wondering how serious the Hawks are about this Blackhawk Fan Salute thing.  Clearly though, there is absolutely nothing like being there at the United Center for moments such as these.

After the Wild series, which more closely resembled a backed up plumbing issue at times, Game One against the Wings was a pretty wide open affair. Although the Wings were generously credited with 42 hits, (the Hawks had 22), the Wing’s did not seem to physically dominate us. There was a scary moment when Oduya was interfered with by the referee and was knocked a bit off balance. Abdelkader, who was credited with 8 hits – is it any wonder he is drawing the Hawk’s fans ire – sort of boarded Johnny on the Spot, sending him into the unyielding boards shoulder first. Fortunately he returned to the game after missing a few shifts.

While on the topic of shifts, once again the TOI of the three defensive pairings for the Hawks was remarkably balanced. All three pairings skated between 16 and 17 minutes. They were all very aggressive on the pinch, often times helping to seal the puck deep within the Wings zone. I admit, I was holding my breath at times, dreading the odd man rush on our suspect goalie. (If I hear one more person say Crawford is “starting to really play good,” well, I think I’ll pop anther pimple on the mirror.) His .950 SV% and miserly 1.27 GAA is almost enough to silence the critics that wanted to trade Kaner for Ryan Miller last season.

One last observation. Much was made of Freddy’s slightly substandard goose egg at the dot in Game 1. You have to remember though; he killed three penalties and had to go up against the best face off men of Detroit. Datsyuk tends to be a force on face offs. It’s not like he’s pitted against their 4^th line center. In addition, one thing I notice about Handzus is even when he doesn’t win the faceoff, the puck is seldom cleanly won by the opposition. Nothing is more nerve wracking than seeing a center seemingly pass the puck back to a defenseman off the draw. Bad things tend to develop from that situation.

Well, one game does not a series make. There’s a lot more dirty work to be done before we can advance to the conference Finals. I fully expect a strong response to Game 1’s efforts from the resilient Motown forces. Any team with Pavel Datsyuk on it can never be taken for granted. Actually, Andersson, Brunner and especially Nyquist unnerve me a little. At the end of the game though, as long as the Hawks have the scent of dirt on them, we should fare well.

In closing, I have to tip my hat to another team from Chicago that rolled up their shirt sleeves and stuck their noses in it. Someone forgot to tell the Bulls they had no chance against that bastard team in Miami. The effort put forth by the ragamuffin, Derek Rose-less, squad from Chicago deserves an A+. What a band of brothers. (no pun intended because if you noticed they also had an Italian guy on the team.) I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Joakim Noah, Nate Robinson and a few of the other Bull’s players riding on one of the buses in the parade at the conclusion of the playoffs!  It is efforts like those that get your named engraved on the silver cup.

No doubt I’ll be parked in front of the flat screen tomorrow at noon. I plan on getting up with the noisy cardinal to make sure the deck is stained by then.

Roll those sleeves up Blackhawks; put a little elbow grease into it. It’s time to get a little dirt under those finger nails.

 “Bring on the night” – you know that’s right

“Every April, God rewrites the Book of Genesis.” – Anon

Rich Lindbloom

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The Chicago Blackhawks broke open a tie game with three third period goals, finishing up their game long attack on the Detroit Red Wings. The Hawks captured the opening game of this Western Conference semifinal series with an impressive 4-1 victory.

Shots on goal were in short supply early, with the Blackhawks coming out with a fierce forecheck. Returning center Dave Bolland was credited with the only shot for both teams in the first six minutes. The Red Wings managed just a single shot in the first half of the period, while the ‘Hawks got off three shots. Fortunately, one of those shots hooked up with twine.

The game’s first penalty came 8:01 into the period when Gustav Nyquist was whistled for the hook. Chicago took advantage of the power play, with Marian Hossa taking a feed from Jonathan Toews in the slot and burning the net at the 9:06 mark.

Detroit’s response was swift, just a tad over a minute later. Damien Brunner received the last of a series of crisp passes, starting with Jonathan Ericsson finding Nyquist to break out of their own zone. Coming down toward the left post, Brunner put a shot on Corey Crawford. The attempt was blocked but Brunner put back the rebound at 10:57 to tie the game.

After the Blackhawks controlled the first half of the opening period, Detroit would take over for the last ten minutes. Chicago killed an Andrew Shaw tripping penalty shortly after the game was evened up. Shaw committed another infraction, boarding Jakub Kindl in the 17^th minute. The Red Wings came up empty and the period ended with the score 1-1.

Toews nearly created a goal with an early steal in the second period but his centering attempt was blocked by the skate of Ericsson. Patrick Sharp found Patrick Kane for a shot that glanced off of Howard before Nick Leddy sent a clearing attempt into the stands. Detroit had its third man advantage but the ‘Hawks PK unit was again up to the challenge.

Sharp drew a holding penalty on Kyle Quincey at the 4:57 mark. Bolland sent a one-timer Howard’s way late in the power play, but other than that Chicago didn’t create much in the two minutes.

After a long shift in the Detroit zone, Justin Abdelkader attempted to body slam Bolland to the ice. Dual roughing infractions sent both skaters to the box and play continued at full strength. The Hawks continued to control the puck in the Red Wings zone, culminating with Hossa sending a rocket into the glove of Howard.

Seconds later, Hossa poked a shot off of a faceoff win and was tripped by Niklas Kronwall at 13:26 of the second. Chicago slammed away at Howard from the blue line but couldn’t break through.

When the smoke cleared after a furious Blackhawks second 20 minutes, Chicago had outshot Detroit 17 to 5. The score, however, remained knotted at a goal apiece at the second intermission.

The action was back and forth early in the third period. Michal Rozsival’s rush to the net at the 3:42 mark was the best early chance. Late in the fifth minute, Bolland found himself all alone in the Detroit zone. The Rat bore down on Howard and had him down on the ice, but the Red Wings goalie made a pad save to slam the door on a golden opportunity.

The Blackhawks finally got the cover off of Howard’s net at the end of an extended tour of Detroit’s zone in the eighth minute. Kane held the puck in and sent it along the left boards. Sharp took possession of the puck in the corner and found a wide open Johnny Oduya in the slot. The shot went off the post and in at the 8:02 mark, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead.

The forecheck by the fourth line provided some insurance in the twelfth minute. The Hawks got the puck behind the net, resulting in a fight for the puck led by Daniel Carcillo. The puck was sent out front, where Marcus Kruger flipped a backhander into the net at the 11:23 mark to make it 3-1 Chicago.

The Blackhawks kept up the pressure on Howard, with Brandon Saad getting off a pair of nice scoring chances.  Kane picked off a pass and led Sharp on a 2-on-1 that failed when the puck rolled before getting to Sharp’s stick.

With 2:43 to play in the contest, Kindl sent a spinning slap shot on net. Crawford knocked it down only to have Brunner whack it over Crawford’s pad and off the crossbar. The puck would have gone across the line if not for Brent Seabrook, who slapped the puck out of midair and prevented the goal.

Detroit pulled Howard in the 19^th minute and nearly scored. Crawford turned away a point-blank shot from Abdelkader, and a few seconds later Sharp slid the puck into the empty Detroit net to seal the deal with the fourth Blackhawks goal.

Thoughts:

-Chicago dominated all but about ten minutes of Game 1. If not for Howard this could have been over much earlier than it was.

-The ‘Hawks doubled down on Detroit in terms of shots-42 to 21. The Red Wings outshot Chicago 7-6 in the first period. From there, most of the game was spent in the Detroit zone.

-Carcillo played just 6:02, but props have to be given for his knocking the puck from the back of the net and across the crease to set up Kruger’s goal.

-As active as Pavel Datsyuk was early in this game, it’s odd to note that he wasn’t credited with a shot all evening.

-Much was made (and rightfully so) of Joel Quenneville wearing an orange tie in honor of a youngster that lost a battle with cancer a few days ago. Up in the team box, Viktor Stalberg probably wondered why he wasn’t treated as charitably. Will we see Youngblood on the ice before this series plays out?

-Jesse Rogers thought the boarding call on Shaw was a little spotty. Shaw did bring his elbow into Kindl’s helmet, though. May not have been boarding, but it wasn’t a smart play. Shaw deserved his seat in the box.

-Brendan Smith turned the puck over in his own zone as easily as he allegedly turned over his ID to Riley Sheahan last Halloween.

-Game 2 is Saturday night. Will Detroit benefit from the extra day of rest? If the forecheck is as strong as it was Wednesday, it may not matter.

Jon Fromi

The Blackhawks advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Corey Crawford put on a show early for the United Center crowd, before the offense kicked into gear and put the Wild in the rear view.

Marian Hossa scored twice and Jonathan Toews, scoreless in the first four games of the series, got on the score sheet with two assists. The Hawks out-shot the Wild 33-22 in the game, but Crawford had a handful of huge stops in those 21 saves.

The visitors had more than a few good looks in the opening period, but the play of Crawford kept them off the board. The stingy Hawks defense from game four was not immediately noticeable, but Crawford could do no wrong; his worst rebounds wound up being his best saves, turning away initial chances from the likes of Jason Pominville and Devin Setoguchi only to make better saves on the subsequent looks from Mikko Koivu and Matt Cullen.

Even though the visitors had carried play for the most part in the early-going, Marian Hossa put the Blackhawks on the board first. Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin picked up a Brent Seabrook dump in, but pressure from Brandon Saad forced the rookie blueliner to attempt a blind pass up the boards. Jonathan Toews picked it off and centered to Hossa, whose quick shot beat Harding to the short side under his glove. Ryan Suter blocked Harding’s view of the shot, and Hossa’s blast put the Blackhawks up 1-0.

The Blackhawks finished the first period tied with the Wild at 10 shots apiece, but there is no question they were fortunate to escape the first twenty minutes with the lead.

The opening minutes of the second period belonged to the home team, as the Blackhawks extended their lead with a pair of goals inside the first seven minutes of the middle frame. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 on a wrap-around goal at 3:19 of the second. Michael Frolik sent the puck wide of the net, but Harding came out to play it to the endboards with this stick. Kruger collected the loose puck, and with Harding slow coming across his crease, was able to beat the goalie five hole to extend the Hawks’ lead.

Marian Hossa’s second goal of the game pushed the lead to 3-0 just over three minutes later. Marcus Kruger controlled the puck in the corner and fed Brandon Saad for a one-time attempt. Harding saved the initial chance but could not control the rebound. Hossa picked up the loose puck on his back hand, took a couple strides towards the middle of the ice, and found room to tuck the puck around Harding’s skate for his third goal of the series.

Minnesota coach Mike Yeo pulled the trigger on a goalie change after the third goal, putting 23-year-old rookie Darcy Kuemper into his second career playoff appearance. The Wild went on their second powerplay of the game a couple after the change, but the Hawks’ PK duo of Toews and Hossa wound up challenging Kuemper with looks from in close.

Torrey Mitchell was nonetheless able to get the Wild on the board a shift after the penalty expired, drawing the score to 3-1 at 10:11 of the second. Handzus won the defensive zone faceoff but Nick Leddy lost the puck off his stick. The Wild controlled the puck along the boards until Kyle Brodziak fed the puck into the slot from below the goal line. Mitchell one-timed the puck past Crawford, but it would be the Blackhawks goaltender’s only blemish of the game.

The Wild’s momentum was quickly squashed by Andrew Shaw, who was on the receiving end of a fortunate bounce off the endboards. Bryan Bickell threw the puck towards the net from the sideboards, and Kuemper used his stick to direct it behind his net. The puck took a hard carom off of the endboards and back out to the other side of the net. Kuemper was slow to recover, giving Shaw plenty of net. The goal put the Blackhawks up 4-1 and they would carry that lead into the second intermission.

The Blackhawks continued to pressure the Wild in the third, drawing a pair of offensive zone penalties in the first five minutes to go on a 5-on-3 advantage. Patrick Sharp scored his team-leading fifth goal of the series by picking up a rebound in front of Kuemper and lifting it over top of the downed goalie. Hossa put the initial shot on net and picked up his third point of the game, while Toews picked up his second assist of the game by getting a piece of the loose puck before Sharp’s shot. The Blackhawks held on to seal the series by a score of 5-1.

Game Notes:

- Corey Crawford continued his incredible run and was acknowledged by the United Center crowd on several occasions for doing so. He finished round one with a .950 save percentage, 1.32 goals against average, and his first career playoff series win.

- Minnesota managed only four shots on goal in the final period of their season as the Hawks fell back to defend the lead.

- The Hawks killed both of the Wild’s powerplays in game five, finishing the series a perfect 8-for-8 in the series. The Hawks powerplay converted on one of two chances in game five, finishing the series with two conversions in 13 powerplay chances.

- Not as important when the team is defending a multi-goal lead, but the Hawks fell back to earth in blocked shots. After all the hubbub about their 26 blocked shots in game four, the Hawks had a series-low nine blocks in game five. They did well to limit chances in general, particularly late in the game when they were hanging back and keeping the Wild from getting much pressure established.

-  End of round one for the Hawks also marks the end of the local television coverage, the Hawks will be playing on NBC/CNBC/NBCSports the rest of the way.

- The Blackhawks’ second round opponent could be decided as early as Friday – if Anaheim finishes their series against Detroit at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, the Hawks would draw the San Jose Sharks in the conference semifinals. If Detroit manages to come back from the 3-2 series deficit, the Red Wings and Blackhawks would meet in the second round.

Brad Gardner

The Chicago Blackhawks delivered a response to a physical Minnesota Wild team Tuesday night, sucking the energy out of the Xcel Energy Center with a 3-0 win. Corey Crawford slammed the door on the Wild as he handled all 25 shots he saw on the night.

Chicago takes a 3-1 series lead in its Western Conference quarterfinal and was paced by another pair of goals by Patrick Sharp. The penalty kill came up large in denying the Wild six times throughout the evening.

Minnesota came out fast, garnering a nice scoring opportunity in the opening minute that led to a power play. Michal Handzus interfered with Zach Parise to earn two minutes in the box. Michael Frolik got a shorthanded shot on goal on the penalty kill that nearly found its way in. That’s as close as anyone got to scoring in the two-minute penalty as the ‘Hawks made good with the kill.

In the fifth and sixth minutes, the two top forward lines were on the ice, with Minnesota’s trio of Mikko Koivu, Parise and Charlie Coyle getting the best of the action. Corey Crawford kept them off the scoreboard despite several outstanding chances.

Joel Quenneville sent Patrick Kane out with Jonathan Toews in an attempt to reverse the momentum midway through the first period.  The move paid off as Chicago began to spend some extended time in the Minnesota zone.

At the 9:39 mark, Marian Hossa kept the puck in the Wild zone with a steal of Koivu’s pass. Coming up the right side, Hossa backhanded a pass to Handzus. Handzus’ attempt bounced off of Patrick Sharp’s knee and the Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead.

Daniel Carcillo made contact with Tom Gilbert 10:13 into the period, earning an interference penalty. Minnesota spent the first 90 seconds in the Blackhawks zone, but again the man advantage was neutralized.

The Wild stayed on the attack, continuing the physical strategy that earned them a Game 3 victory. In the 16^th minute, Toews took a pass and found himself with open ice. Bearing down on Josh Harding, Toews tried to come across the crease. The captain couldn’t get off the shot and Harding was slow to recover as Toews’ momentum took him into the Wild goalie.

A minute later Sharp was taken down on a similar rush to the net by Jared Spurgeon, drawing Chicago’s first power play of the contest at 16:42. Harding was checked out by the Minnesota trainers but remained in the game.

Not much came of the power play, but Harding was in obvious pain and labored through the last minute. The ‘Hawks were outshot 7-5 and were on their heels for much of the first 20 minutes. However, they went to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

Quenneville kept Kane and Toews together to open the second, but Mike Yeo was forced to go to his backup net minder. Darcy Kuemper faced his first shot of the playoffs, a stick-side attempt by Sharp after he swiped a pass by Parise and sent it to net from the top of the circle. The shot went unmolested into the back of the net to put the ‘Hawks up 2-0 just 1:02 into the middle frame.

Crawford lost his footing on a Kyle Brodziak snipe from the corner, but new Dad Duncan Keith was there to knock the loose puck away. Johnny Oduya was tagged for a cross check at 4:26. Crawford came up with a pair of nice stops and for the third time Minnesota came up dry on the power play.

Chicago pressured Kuemper in the tenth minute, with the Wild returning the favor to Crawford in the eleventh. Michal Rozsival took Cal Clutterbuck down to give Minnesota another power play with 11:17 gone in the period. The ‘Hawks handled business yet again and killed the penalty.

The latter half of the period saw Kuemper settle down and make several big stops. The ‘Hawks began to overcome some of the more physical aspects of Minnesota’s game and limited the Wild to just six shots on goal. Heading into the second intermission, the lead was 2-0 Chicago.

The third period got off to a less than optimal start when Kane sent a clearing attempt into the stands, giving Minnesota a power play 1:08 into the action. It got worse when Brandon Saad was called for tripping as the ‘Hawks were about to kill the penalty.

Crawford just kept stopping point-blank attempts, getting a break when the officials lost sight of a loose puck at the 4:25 mark. For the sixth time on the night, the Wild weren’t allowed to convert.

Late in the tenth minute, Coyle cross-checked Marcus Kruger as he was leaving the ice. The Blackhawks went on the power play with 10:15 to play in the game. Chicago had a chance to take a commanding lead but couldn’t deliver in the next two minutes.

Bryan Bickell provided that cushion at even strength with 7:15 to play. After Andrew Shaw checked Justin Falk, Bickell dug the puck out of the corner, fired at the net from a goofy angle and beat Kuemper to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Blackhawks.

From this point, it was a matter of Crawford’s potential shutout and Sharp’s potential hat trick. Kane gave up a shot on goal in the final minutes to try and get Sharp an opportunity, but Kuemper made the save. Crawford and the Blackhawks defense finished off the Wild for the win and the shutout.

Thoughts:

-Crawford weathered a dozen third period shots on the part of Minnesota. It’s his net, folks.

-Chicago’s attempts to match the Wild on the physical front usually landed them in the box. Shaw’s hit was a notable exception, leading to Bickell’s third goal of the postseason.

-Duncan Keith flew back to Chicago in the middle of the night, was with his wife as she gave birth and made it back to the arena two hours before the puck dropped. He also led the Blackhawks in ice time with 23:57 played, including 7:29 on the penalty kill.

-Kuemper came into a tough spot and Sharp burned him early, but credit him for some degree of poise in making it tough for Chicago in the last 40 minutes.

-The top line was silent on the score sheet again, with Hossa’s assist coming with the second line. On the other hand, Minnesota’s top line has three points and is a combined minus-14. As long as Koivu and Parise are held in check, who cares who scores the goals?

-Hjalmarsson spent the whole two-minutes on the ice on the second Minnesota power play, coming up with a crucial clear of the puck after the Wild bombarded the net. Frolik also turned in another outstanding effort on the PK unit.

-Note to the power play: we know you can pass. How about some movement on the ice and a few shots on goal? The only pressure that seems to be created is when the ‘Hawks are on the rush into the zone. Once they establish themselves in the zone, they seem to just stand around and pass.

-Seabrook was completely destroyed in the corner by Cal Clutterbuck in the first period like Charlie Brown being knocked off of the pitcher’s mound. Ouch.

-Chicago can end the series Thursday at the United Center. Hands up, who hates these 8:30 p.m. starts?

Jon Fromi

On Tuesday, we welcomed Mike Peck, the voice of the Rockford IceHogs, back to PuckChatter~Radio to help us recap the IceHogs’ 2012-13 season.

Over the course of this 40 minute show, Mike and I discussed the emergence of third-year pros Brandon Pirri, Jeremy Morin, Ben Smith and Ryan Stanton.  We also covered the development and future of other Blackhawks prospects, including Kyle Beach, Joe Lavin and Jimmy Hayes.  Also, we take a look at what next season’s IceHogs’ roster will look like.

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As the scene shifted to St. Paul, Minnesota on Sunday, the Chicago Blackhawks thus far had held the  8^th seed Minnesota Wild in check.  Game one turned out to be a bit of a feeling out process.  Both teams knew what was required to win this series.  Bryan Bickell decided to produce at the perfect time, sliding the overtime winner under Josh Harding.  Game two showed us that when the Hawks want to play… well, 5 -2 was the result.  Patrick Sharp, finally got the monkey off is back, sniping two goals.  Patrick Kane was mesmerising causing the Wild to chance him around the ice all night.  Michael Frolik, playing his normal 4^th line minutes, chipped in with a nice shorthanded goal, his 2^nd g note of the night.

Game three was the Wilds first playoff home game since 2008.  The Hawks were 18-4-2 on the road during the regular season.  Dave Bolland and Ray Emery skated this week but remained out of the line up.  Dan Carcillo, Jamal Mayers and Sheldon Brookbank were out as well. 

Coming into Game 3, the new Wild game plan was to fore check aggressively and force the Hawks defensemen to make mistakes.   The Hawks didn’t make any changes to their line up that has them up 2-0 in the series.  Corey Crawford was the obvious choice for coach Q.

The Wild’s game plan began to start very early in the first minutes of the game.  Bodies were flying everywhere and the Hawks began to feel the energy of the Wild.  Niklas Hjalmarsson answered the Wilds aggression delivering a thunderous hit on Wild captain Zach Parise right in front of the Hawks bench.  Ryan Suter was Jonathan Toews shadow all night.  He was in his back pocket as soon as Toews touched the puck.  Michal Handzus was trying his best to keep up with Kane and Sharp but he seemed a step behind.

Viktor Stalberg gets the first penalty of the game for tripping.  Crawford began to silence his doubters with some in tight saves.  Cal Clutterbuck began to let the Hawks know that they wouldn’t be going down easy.  Michal Rozsival was his first victim.

Kane then showed why his vision on the ice is one of the best in the league.  He spots a streaking Johnny Oduya coming off the far point.  He makes no mistake and fires a shot over Harding for a 1-0 lead.

Devin Setoguchi hammers Nick Leddy with, what some might dub, a questionable hit.  Leddy is slow to get up, but remained in the game.

With 90 seconds left on the period, Clutterbuck gets a shot through and Crawford lets out a huge rebound.  Pierre Marc Bouchard was in the perfect position and sends a backhand in the top shelf tying the game at 1-1.  The Wild outshot the Hawks 15-9 and out hit them 17-4.

The Wild continue to pressure the Hawks when the second period starts.  Crawford again needed to make some key saves to keep this game close.  Justin Falk shows off his favourite wrestling move, forcing Frolik’s head into the glass well after the whistle was blown.  The Hawks get their first power play attempt.  Kane finds a wide open Hossa who shoots it high on Harding.  Kane plays with the Wild penalty killing unit teeing it up for Hossa once again.  This time Harding didn’t have to make a save as Hossa got called for strike one whiffing on the pass.  The Wild kill the man advantage and the crowd wants to see a playoff victory.

Minnesota began to show their playoff inexperience with another saunter to the penalty box.  This time it’s Kyle Brodziak who high sticks Hjalmarsson.  The power play unit continued to struggle with a Wild shorthanded attempt.  The fore check began to stifle the Hawks power play and Toews got called for a phantom hold.  The Wild obtain 1:25 of power play time.  Crawford helps out his defence trying to clear the puck out.  Clutterbuck breaks down the wing and fires another shot on Crawford who looked a little caught off guard.  With the puck bouncing around in the crease, Clutterbuck comes in to be sure it’s under the glove of Crawford.  Oduya takes exception and they both head to the box for roughing with Oduya getting the extra 2 minutes sending the Wild on the power play for the third time.  The period ends with the score still knotted at 1, with the Wild continuing to outshoot the Hawks 29-17.

The tie is broken just 3 minutes into the final frame.  Parise lifts a backhand past Crawford igniting the Crowd and giving the Wild their first lead of the game.  The goal looked eerily close to the first one off the stick of Bouchard.

Coach Q pulled out his stir stick and began to mix up the forward lines.  Duncan Keith introduced Clutterbuck’s face to his stick and the ref’s arm remained at his side.  The crowd lets the official know about it as Clutterbuck heads to the locker room for repairs.  Keith tries his best Kane impression dangling across the blue line.  As the time tics the Hawks show why they are the league’s best.  Wild coach Mike Yeo was forced to call a timeout and settle his team down.   Leddy, the Minnesota native flew up the far side trying to tie the game.

With just 2:46 left in the game, Kane gets his 2^nd assist of the night.  He sent a puck over to Keith who blast the tying goal past Harding.  Toews wanted to end the game with just over a minute remaining when he walks through and puts a flying backhand shot on Harding.  An extra period is need and the Wild need the win to stay alive in this series.

2:15 into sudden death overtime, the Hawks get sloppy behind their net.  Andrew Shaw, trips Matt Cullen and while the Hawks wait for a whistle to be blown, Jason Zucker grabs the puck and gets the winning goal past Crawford for a 3-2 final score.

Quick Hits:

-Wild outshot the Hawks 37-27

-Keith had 25:31 of TOI which was nowhere near Ryan Suter who finished with 32:23 TOI.

-Toews was the Hawks only center who was over 50% in the faceoff dot winning 13 of 24 draws.

-Mikko Koivu won 15 of 20 face offs with most of them coming on Handzus.

-Kane finished with 2 assists.  Sharp, Hossa, both had 1 assist.

-Hossa, Toews and Brandon Saad still only have a combined 1 point in this series.

-Game 4 will go Tuesday night back in Minnesota.  The Wild are looking to tie the series at 2.  The Hawks may want to review their current line up and maybe insert a little bit of grit in the likes of Carcillo and Mayers.

Brad Vandenberk

The Chicago Blackhawks took a 2-0 series lead over the eighth seeded Minnesota Wild with a win at home on Friday night. After jumping out to a two-goal lead in the second period, the Blackhawks eventually held on to win by a final score of 5-2.

It was a rematch in net between Corey Crawford and Josh Harding after each goaltender turned in a strong performance in Game 1 of the series. Neither disappointed on Friday, even though it was a higher-scoring affair. Crawford got the win in Game 2 with 26 saves, while Harding managed 43 saves on 47 shots in the loss.

Michael Frolik and Patrick Sharp registered two goals apiece as the Blackhawks carried play for a majority of the game. Despite a substantial lead in the shot column for the home team, the visitors remained in it for much of the game, trailing only by one goal heading into the third period.

The Blackhawks got off to the fast start they wanted in the first period, out-shooting the Wild 17-7 in the first 20 minutes. The team found a lot more success getting into the offensive zone and building up speed in the neutral zone, leading to a lot more back-and-forth action than the first game of the series.

Michael Frolik opened scoring at the 8:34 mark of the first period by picking up a loose puck on a Chicago rush into the zone. Andrew Shaw carried the puck over the blue line and slapped the puck towards the net. Minnesota defenseman Justin Falk got a piece of the shot, but the puck bounced through the slot, past Tom Gilbert, and right onto the stick of Frolik, who beat Harding to the glove side.

A quick one-time chance from Zach Parise and a penalty call against Jonathan Toews looked to turn the tide in Minnesota’s favor early in the second period, but instead Frolik extended the lead with a shorthanded goal. Duncan Keith attempted to backhand the puck to the net on the rush, but the shot was blocked by Jared Spurgeon and again Frolik found it and slid the puck under the pad of Harding to make it 2-0 less than a minute into the second period.

Although the Blackhawks maintained their pressure in the second, the Wild were at least able to reciprocate with several extended stays in the Chicago zone. Crawford was not seeing the quantity of shots as his counterpart, but nonetheless did his part to keep the Wild off the board through the first 50 minutes of the game. Minnesota’s second power play of the middle frame was unsuccessful, in large part because Crawford held his ground against a flurry of chances, officially five shots in the span of two seconds, by Zach Parise.

The back-and-forth play eventually caught up with the home team however, as Crawford was beaten on a 2-on-1 break by Devin Setoguchi. Brent Seabrook skated down into the Minnesota zone to check a Wild player along the wall, which allowed Matt Cullen room to skate with the puck and thread a pass by Duncan Keith to the streaking Setoguchi. He hit the top of the net with the wrist shot, pulling the Wild back within one with just over two minutes to play in the second period.

The Blackhawks entered the third with just the 2-1 lead despite carrying play, but Patrick Sharp‘s first goal of the playoffs just over three minutes into the period extended that lead to two goals. Patrick Kane fed Michal Handzus in the slot, but he was unable to get a shot on net. Kane collected the puck and moved it behind the net to Sharp, whose quick backhand shot beat Harding to make it 3-1.

Sharp added his second goal a little over 12 minutes later. Kane carried the puck into to the slot but was encircled by all five Wild players. He spun and sent a no-look pass to a wide open Sharp off to the side of the net. Harding didn’t have a view of the puck and didn’t react to Sharp’s chance on the open cage.

Marco Scandella made it 4-2 at 16:29 of the third period, but by then it was too late. Bryan Bickell eventually swept in an empty net goal to give the Hawks the 5-2 victory.

Game Notes

- No points from the Toews line in Game 2 but it wasn’t for lack of trying – Brandon Saad in particular stood out. He was credited with seven shots, second only to Sharp’s eight.

- The Blackhawks power play went 0-for-4 with seven shots. The Wild were unsuccessful on two chances – they were also credited with seven power play shots, but five of them came when Crawford squashed Parise’s Persistence.

- After giving up the bad goal to Charlie Coyle on the first shot of Game 1, Corey Crawford saved 46 consecutive shots before he was beaten by Devin Setoguchi in the second period of Game 2.

- Brandon Bollig finished with six hits in 7:13 of ice time, tying Parise for the lead in hits. The Blackhawks out-hit the Wild in Game 1, only the fifth time all season that has happened, but the Wild led that category 43-35 in Game 2.

- 3 Stars of the Game: 3. Patrick Sharp… 2. Corey Crawford… 1. Michael Frolik.

- Minnesota inserted Justin Falk into the lineup for Clayton Stoner. There were no changes in Blackhawks lineup from Game 1.

- The series will shift to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for Game 3 on Sunday 2pm central.

By Brad Gardner

In addition to the game write-ups for TheThirdManIn.com, Brad Gardner will provide here this season, he covers the Blackhawks and serves as the Western Conference Editor at Hockey’s Future.