Blackhawks handle injury-riddled Red Wings

Blackhawks handle injury-riddled Red Wings
CHICAGO — The playoff picture has grown dimmer for the Detroit Red Wings after their inability to offer any counter-offense dealt another blow to their
hopes.
The Red Wings left the United Center Sunday night with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, a score reflecting strong early play from Jimmy Howard and very
little punch from the skaters. The Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings by two-to-one much of the night, and easily handled shutting down the only scoring line
Detroit has left as nearly a dozen regulars occupy sick bay.
BOX SCORE: Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 1
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Howard had seen 25 shots after two periods and saw 30 total, while the Red Wings only got 20 shots. The Red Wings' sole offense came on the power play, with
Gustav Nyquist scoring in the second period. Detroit had trouble handling Chicago's speed, and didn't get many shots on Corey Crawford until after former
teammate Marian Hossa had given Chicago a two-goal lead early in the third period. A Detroit power play with minutes to play in regulation went very badly
when Hossa stripped the puck off Johan Franzen and fed Jonathan Toews for the coffin-nailer.
The Red Wings came out of the first period in good shape thanks to Howard, who opened his night with a slap shot save on Johnny Oduya. The Blackhawks were
all over the Red Wings in the opening minutes, and Crawford didn't see any pucks until grinder Luke Glendening tried with back-to-back shots. The power play,
scoreless the previous three games, at least got some good looks during an early chance, especially the unit headed up by the young guys.
More impressively, the Red Wings held the Blackhawks — owners of the NHL's sixth-ranked power play — without a shot late in the first period. The Red Wings
only got five shots total in the first period, while the Blackhawks had 11.
The trend didn't change in the second period — the Red Wings got one shot through the first nine minutes, while twice playing shorthanded. Nick Leddy
upended what had been a flawless effort by Detroit's penalty killers when he got a feed from Hossa and used Ben Smith distracting down low to make it 1-0.
Nyquist converted on Detroit's second power play, taking a pass from Daniel Alfredsson, slowing down, and firing a shot into the crease that ended up going
in off Brent Seabrook's skate. What boost the Red Wings got from having tied a game in which they were outshot at a 2:1 ratio through 40 minutes deflated
when Chicago made it 2-1 with seconds to spare in the second period. Ben Smith tapped in Duncan Keith's rebound, leaving Detroit staring at another deficit.
The Red Wings had 12 shots on net after two periods, none of them from David Legwand or Franzen, because like every other opponent these days, the Blackhawks
know that's the line that's key to containing what limited offense the Red Wings are capable of with both Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk missing from
the lineup.
Helene St. James covers the NHL for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett affiliate.
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