After having a few hours to digest this game, it’s amazing to think back and realize it was a tie game with just under 12 minutes left to play. Nikolai Khabibulin was strong enough to keep the Hawks in the game after a couple of tragic defensive blunders.
The game looked like it was going to go down to the wire, and then the Red Wings turned on their jets; the Hawks treated their defensive zone coverage like a fire drill, and at the end, the Red Wings turned a once tight game into a breeze.
The Hawks drew first blood early when Adam Burish snuck around the Wing net, picked up a turnover and deposited it right between Chris Osgood’s legs. This was after several extended chances for the Hawks in the early going. The majority of the first few minutes were played in the Detroit end.
Then after a clean offensive zone face-off win by Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook whiffed on the puck. Dan Cleary was busting hard right off the draw and picked it up. In a clear 2-0n-1, Cleary pulled up from about 40 feet and shot a wrist shot off his back foot. The shot beat Khabibulin high to the glove side and the Wings were back in business.
From there, Detroit picked up their play and started to pepper Khabibulin. He stood tall each time and Osgood did the same thing at the other end as the Hawks had plenty of opportunities of their own.
In the second period, Khabibulin single-handedly killed off a key Detroit power play with a couple of highlight reel saves. He robbed Johan Franzen on the door step twice and denied Zetterberg on a decent chance. It started to look as though the Bulin Wall would win Game 1 on his own.
Of course, late in the second period, Duncan Keith won a board battle deep in his own end. Instead of just skating the puck out himself, he tried to make a two foot ‘buddy’ pass to Seabrook behind the net. He whiffed on the attempt, Franzen picked up the puck and wrapped it around to give the Wings a 2-1 lead.
After Jonathan Ericsson was called for an interference penalty a minute and a half into the third, (that the refs could have called all game, on both sides if they wanted to), the Hawks power play was at again. Kris Versteeg won a board battle and fed it back to Seabrook who did a terrific job of holding it in the zone.
When Franzen took the wrong assignment, Seabrook blasted it towards the net where it was re-directed about 13 times. Versteeg was cutting hard to the net and potted it into the empty net to square it away at 2-2.
From there, the Red Wings really picked up the pace and after an extended shift in the Hawks zone, Mikael Samuelsson shot another 40 foot wrister off his back foot and beat Khabibulin over his glove.
Just a minute later, Franzen put a shot towards the net that Cleary tipped over Khabibulin’s shoulder and the Wings went up by two goals with just 11 minutes left.
The Hawks tried to scratch and claw their way back as they have done so many times before, but Osgood was better on each attempt. He denied Toews on two shots down low. Dustin Byfuglien had an excellent shot that was turned away and that was all the Wings needed to hold on for the important Game 1 victory.
Leftover Thoughts from Game 1
–It goes without saying that Khabibulin probably should’ve stopped Cleary’s first goal, but let’s not forget, that shot should have never happened after Toews won the draw back to Seabrook. As we’ve all laid witness to in these playoffs, turnovers at the blue line are suicide and against the Wings, it is no different. So before everyone starts to tie Khabibulin to the wooden post and light a match, we should remember the mistakes that were made before the shot even got there.
–Apparently Mike Milbury didn’t watch many Blackhawks games on his Centre Ice package because if he did, he wouldn’t have been so shocked about Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane’s collective ice times. In between the 2nd and 3rd period, Milbury sounded like a pissed off Pee Wee mom. Anyone who was watched the Hawks this year knows this is nothing out of the ordinary. This is the one nice thing about having Edzo on the broadcast. He can tell Milbury and Pierre Macguire they’re idiots. Which he basically did today on multiple occasions.
–It’s hard to feel optimistic after this game. The Wings dictated the tempo when they wanted. The Hawks gave up way too many odd-man rushes, even before their defense became pinching mad men late in the game. The Hawks only got two shots past Osgood with 32 shots on net, which reminds me…
This goes out to all our new hyper-sensitive Wings fans: Yes, Chris Osgood played a good game. I hope you can all sleep better knowing you were right. Now if we can only get him to lose that ugly ass mask, then maybe we’ll start to call him a Hall-of-Fame goalie.
John, I like you, I gotta say. The Wings did not play a great game, but it was enough to beat a Chicago team that, let’s face it, also didn’t play a great game. It was a really fun game to watch; very high-paced and sorta end-to-end hockey (which usually irritates me, but was fun today). Obviously, I’m even happier that the Wings came out with the win. I have confidence that the Wings can pull this out, but I was a little nervous about this game. I knew Chicago would come out flying, and the Wings might need time to adjust from playing a beat-you-into-submission team to playing a team with a lot of skill. Chicago shows great promise, and I love that there’s a good team in Chicago and that the rabid, knowledgeable fans in Chitown can enjoy that. I’m looking forward to years of facing this team in the playoffs. We need a good rivalry that’s not all hate, but a little respect too.
I like you too.