Red Wings Own West Finals Opener

A series billed as youth versus experience got its start Sunday, with the experience controlling most of the 60 minutes. Detroit's mix of amazing skill and unending will was more than enough to hold off Chicago at Joe Louis Arena. The opening game of the Western Conference Finals wasn't a blowout, but there was not much of a feeling Chicago could break through in this one.

Red Wings 5, Blackhawks 2: Recap | Box Score
Red Wings lead series 1-0

Granted, Detroit controls the line matchups as the home team, but Chicago coach Joel Quenneville is going to have some evaluating to do before Tuesday's second game. His top defensive pair -- Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook -- was absolutely scorched by Detroit all afternoon.

This isn't to indict the duo as the only Blackhawks who can play better. Instead, the entire team has to find a way to better handle Detroit's constant pressure on the puck.

Keith and Seabrook were beaten badly for both of Dan Cleary's goals, and the Red Wings took advantage of Chicago's inability to stop their rushes into the offensive zone. They outshot Chicago throughout the game, and probably won by a bigger margin than the score would indicate.

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DETROIT - MAY 17: Brian Cambell #51 of the Chicago Blackhawks turns around to see the puck cross the line from the empty net goal by Henrik Zetterberg #40 (not pictured) of the Detroit Red Wings late in Game One of the Western Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 17, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The Red Wings defeated the Blackhawks 5-2 (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brian Cambell

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Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg (40) celebrates his goal with Johan Franzen (3) behind Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Sharp during the third period in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final hockey series in Detroit, Michigan, May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

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DETROIT - MAY 17: Mikael Samuelsson #37 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with his teammates after he scored a goal in the third period to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game One of the Western Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 17, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mikael Samuelsson;Valtteri Filppula;Brett Lebda

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Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen (top) celebrates his goal with Henrik Zetterberg during the second period of play against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final hockey series in Detroit, Michigan, May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

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Detroit Red Wings Daniel Cleary (11) celebrates his goal with Johan Franzen (93) behind Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin during the third period in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final hockey series in Detroit, Michigan, May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

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DETROIT - MAY 17: The crowd cheers as a group of Detroit Red Wings celebrate behind the net after scoring a goal while Nikolai Khabibulin #39 of the Chicago Blackhawks watches during Game One of the Western Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 17, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nikolai Khabibulin

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Detroit Red Wings' Daniel Cleary scores a goal on Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin during the third period in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference Final hockey series in Detroit, Michigan, May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

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Moving forward, Detroit has no serious adjustments to make. They had a couple lulls in their play, but it was nothing destructive. After the game, goalie Chris Osgood (who continues to win despite how terrible virtually everyone seems to think he is) told NBC's Pierre McGuire that they turned the puck over way too many times. However, Detroit's transition defense was so good on this day that it didn't matter much.

Chicago is the team that has work to do. They have to find a matchup that can slow down Henrik Zetterberg and his linemates. Those who will insist that this is definitely going to be a long series could very well be wrong, as Chicago appears to be overmatched if their best defensive pair is virtually hopeless against Detroit's top line. It's not like there is a great falloff among the Wings' top three lines, so who are you going to match Keith and Seabrook against if they can't handle Zetterberg?

It's hard to blame much on goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. He was screened by his own defensemen too often, and was flat-out beaten for Cleary's first goal. Chicago's defense was flat-out embarrassed on a wraparound goal by Johan Franzen, and they didn't give Khabibulin much of a chance on Mikael Samuelsson's game-winner in the third period. Yes, the goalie can play better, but it just won't make a huge difference if Khabibulin can't get more help than he did on Sunday. If the Red Wings average more than 40 shots a game in this series, there's a good chance it won't last long.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is slated for Tuesday night in Detroit.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-17-2009 @ 7:08PM

disappointed said...

1 DOWN 3 TO GO. EXPERENCE OVER YOUTH ANY DAY. WAY TO GO WINGS

5-17-2009 @ 7:22PM

rwing said...

WAY TO GO WINGS!!!! Cleary, Sammy and "The Mule" came thru, and to think "Danny Boy" Cleary(with 2 goals) was first drafted by Chicago. JUST LOVE IT!!!!

5-17-2009 @ 8:45PM

dss100 said...

A good showing for the Wings. Cleay reminds me of Brown from a few years back only better. Datsyuk is still the most exciting player on the ice. Stuart is very very strong

5-17-2009 @ 8:49PM

hafttwo said...

nuf said wings in 5

5-18-2009 @ 12:22AM

Bennett said...

1 game boys. Get real. Chicago wont hand you two goals like that for the rest of the series. Other teams the Hawks beat thought it would be a 5 game series too. Chicago takes home ice away in game 2 victory. ONE GOAL.

5-18-2009 @ 12:45AM

Josh said...

No offense meant but these Blackhawks have never met the Red Wings. The Red Wings don't show up in the regular season. Look at our two stars of the playoffs - Osgood and Franzen. Both were pretty much no where to be found. We coast the entire regular season every year (and still manage to get 110+ points, mind you). They turn it on for the playoffs. I remember reading an article on Yahoo! saying that if someone could convince Franzen that the regular season was as important as the playoffs, he'd score more than Malkin, Crosby, or Ovechkin. He is as good as any of them. He just doesn't care about anything but the playoffs.

In this series, the experience of the Wings will absolutely destroy the inexperience of the Blackhawks. This afternoon was not a fluke. A team like Chicago simple does not have the power to get past us.

If today was how your top defensive pair plan to play the entire series... that's just pathetic. On a decent night, our Third line defensive pair of Lebda and Ericsson can play better than that. And like was mentioned in the article, if your top defensive pair can't match up against our top forward line, what hope do you have when our second line is almost as talented? Our first line contains the two best two-way forwards in the game. Our second line contains two of the best scoring forwards in the game (Franzen and Hossa). Our third line contains three people who would be first line forwards on most teams and one player (Helm) who may very well be the fastest in the league. Not to mention our fourth line contains Jiri Hudler who would be a first liner on pretty much every team in the league.

How can the Hawks compete with those people when their top defensive pair can't control our top line which is only slightly better than our second and third lines? The answer is they cannot compete.

Wings in 4, 5 if the Hawks are lucky.

5-18-2009 @ 6:53AM

toddsworld05 said...

See told you slackers!! WINGS DOMINATE THE HAWKS!! I said it will be a sweep and it will be! GO WINGS!

5-18-2009 @ 12:41PM

Odie said...

It never ceases to amaze me how blind fans of a team can be. Do not get me wrong, the Wings absolutely dominated game 1, but this is a lot of talk from fans of a team that was taken to 7 games (and the last 3 minutes of game 7) by the 8th seed Ducks. I'm sure they will say they just coasted through that too, anything to demonstrate just how great their team is.
I'll take the experience over the youth any day also, but this series is long from over, fans need to get a grip.

5-18-2009 @ 5:04PM

There's a vast difference between Anaheim and Chicago. Anaheim is one of the most playoff tested teams in the league. They have probably the third or fourth best defense in the league (Boston, San Jose, and Detroit are better). They have what is probably the most physical player in the league in Pronger. And they had an incredibly hot goalie in the playoffs. Not to mention they were only two seasons removed from a Cup win and had a few players that were hungry to win one more before they retired (Both Neidermayers, Pronger, and Sellanne).

Besides Quenneville, Campbell, Havlat, Huet (who likely won't see a minute between the pipes) and Bulin, the Hawks have next to no one with playoff experience. The Ducks were far from being a true 8th seed. They knocked off the President Trophy winners and came close to unseating the reigning champs. The Hawks, while immensely talented (especially their top two lines), just don't have it in them to do any real harm. I'm more worried about the Penguins and Canes right now than the Hawks.

5-18-2009 @ 10:01PM

Skapanza said...

Con you honestly say with a straight face that you'd rather have had the Hawks play the Ducks than the Canucks? The Ducks were probably the hottest team in the NHL coming into the playoffs, while the 'Nucks are perpetual disappointments and playoff choke artists. The Hawks are in over their heads. Three shots of Kane and Toews combined? Khabibulin can't be expected to make 38 saves a night either. They might steal a game, but I have a hard time imagining the Hawks are going to get much in this playoff experience but some bruises and a lesson in humility. Maybe next year.

5-18-2009 @ 8:45PM

Helm adds an important dimension to the team. i'd like to see him on a line with Datsyuk and Filpula. In a perfect world he'd have Yzerman or Norm Ulman with him.