Recap: Blackhawks Push Past Ailing Red Wings

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings faced off Tuesday night and the United Center faithful wasted no time revitalizing this historic rivalry with early chants of “Detroit sucks” echoing through the Madhouse on Madison. This was nothing new for Detroit’s ears, though, and they had extra reason to fight with this matchup coming while the players had their fathers in attendance on a “Dad’s trip.”

With the Red Wings sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, the former Western Conference rivals of the Blackhawks entered Chicago both hurting for points, but also hurting physically as they came into Tuesday’s matchup with multiple injuries. Meanwhile, a relatively healthy Chicago team was looking for a homestand sweep and to stay ahead of the surging Minnesota Wild who after this game, have six games in hand on the Blackhawks.

First Period

The first period began with both teams attempting to feel each other out, with a couple opportunities going towards both ends. The first goal of the game came about halfway into the frame. Brian Campbell fired a slap shot from the point that deflected off Detroit’s Alexey Marchenko and slipped past Petr Mrazek. Less than thirty seconds later, Duncan Keith cleared a puck off the glass that found its way onto the stick of a streaking Ryan Hartman. While he wasn’t able to beat Mrazek, a trailing Richard Panik was able to put home the rebound.

The Red Wings were heavily outshot in the first period, but they struggled with penalties. Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Ericsson, and Mike Green all spent two minutes in the box and Green could easily have had an additional two for playing the puck while still coming out of the penalty box. While the Blackhawks were able to convert on one of their power plays, they had plenty of opportunities to do more to distance themselves from their opponent. They outshot the Wings by a count of 16-7 and possessed the puck for much of the period, but Detroit would not go down easily.

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Second Period

Less than two minutes into the second period, Andrea Athanasiou grabbed a pass from Thomas Vanek and launched a shot from the left faceoff dot over Corey Crawfords far shoulder and off the post for Detroit’s first goal of the game. This set the tone for the second period as Detroit refused to let this game get away from them. A visible energy came from almost every player, and the tone of the period felt much different from the drop of the puck.

After the fourth penalty of the night by the Red Wings, Patrick Kane also headed to the box, creating a four on four. Just as these penalties were expiring, Tomas Tatar found some room in the slot after a hectic few seconds of a loose puck. Tatar had had a shot from in close just at the beginning of this loose puck scramble, and after a stickless Niklas Hjalmarsson swatted the puck to Dylan Larkin, Tatar was able to put his feed to the top shelf, tying the game at two.

After the Blackhawks took the lead thanks to a goal by Tanner Kero, who had posted up in front of the net and put home a loose puck, the Red Wings tied the game once more with a quintessential “greasy” goal by Luke Glendening. After Drew Miller had multiple whacks at a bouncing puck in front of Corey Crawford, the puck found Glendening’s stick and he poked it up and over the line.

Third Period

After a high-flying second period, the first big chance of the third period didn’t come for six minutes, when Crawford mishandled a puck behind the net and barely recovered, stopping Frans Nielsen from capitalizing on the mistake. Shortly after, the Red Wings committed another penalty, with Mike Green sitting down once more creating the Blackhawks fifth power play of the game. The Red Wings entered the game with the ninth best penalty-kill in the league, and their performance in Chicago showed why. Chicago was able to create sustained offensive possession, but they were limited to shots from the perimeter. Detroit collapsed quickly while still keeping the pressure on the puck carriers, and their shorthanded effort kept them in this game.

As the third period dwindled away, both goaltenders were able to keep the puck out of their cage, despite some dangerous challenges. With just fifteen seconds left in the period, Justin Abdelkader was sent to the box for hooking. While the Blackhawks did not score before the end of regulation, it was a tough pill for Detroit to swallow as they struggled all game to stay out of the box. While they performed admirably to this point, stopping 5 of 6 Blackhawks power plays, the penalty going into overtime set a grim tone for Detroit.

Overtime

After a few seconds of passing in the offensive zone, the Blackhawks didn’t waste any time capitalizing on the 4 on 3 overtime powerplay. Patrick Kane sent a cross-ice pass to Artemi Panarin who, instead of one-timing it on net, passed it back to Duncan Keith on the point for the slap shot, game winning goal.

Scoring Summary

FIRST PERIOD

CHI – B. Campbell (4) assisted by M. Hossa (9) and J. Toews (14)

CHI – R. Panik (10) assisted by R. Hartman (8) and D. Keith (29)

SECOND PERIOD

DET – A. Athanasiou (8) assisted by T. Vanek (16)

DET –  T. Tatar (9) assisted by D. Larkin (5)

CHI – T. Kero (1) assisted by R. Hartman (9) and R. Panik (8)

DET – L. Glendening (2) assisted by D. Miller (2) and F. Nielsen (15)

THIRD PERIOD

No Scoring

OVERTIME

CHI – D. Keith (2) assisted by A. Panarin (25) and P. Kane (33)

THW Three Stars

First: D. Keith (Game-Winning Goal, Assist, +2)

Second: R. Panik (Goal, Assist)

Third: T. Tatar (Goal, 4 Penalty Minutes)

Up Next:

Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals

Verizon Center – 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Jan. 13

Broadcast channels –CSNC, CSMA

2016-17 Season Series: 

Nov 11 – Washington (3) – Chicago (2)

Up Next:

Detroit Red Wings at Dallas Stars

American Airlines Center – 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Jan. 12

Broadcast channels – FSW+, FSDT

2016-17 Season Series: 

Nov 29 – Dallas (1) – Detroit (3)