OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

NHL

Unshakable Wings Giving Blackhawks No Margin for Error

Posted May 20, 2009 12:00PM By Kevin Schultz (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Blackhawks, Red Wings

Text SizeAAA
This incarnation of the Detroit Red Wings, much like those championship versions before it, continues to roll along feeding off the mistakes of its opponents while committing very few of its own. This isn't the most dominant version of the Wings we've seen over the last 15 years, but it's certainly the most savvy.

In the past, the Wings had more stars than they knew what to do with. And this time, in all fairness, they have a lot. But not quite like the past. Nonetheless, the results are about the same.

Take 2002, for example, when the Wings had as many as eight future Hall of Famers leading the charge, most in or at the end of their prime. There's probably not that many on the roster this time around, but they are getting similar results.

One of the trademarks of the Wings is that they don't make mistakes. They don't beat themselves. That's because they can't afford to. They're a very, very talented team but they're not the juggernaut that won the Cup last year -- they've looked tired at times -- or the one that dominated the NHL in 2002. Instead, they sit back and play smart, flawless hockey and wait for their opponents to make mistakes. Chicago's Brian Campbell learned that firsthand in overtime last night.

Or ask perennial All-Star Nicklas Lidstrom, who has four rings with Detroit. He took two bad penalties last night, which caused a ruckus in the TSN broadcast booth. It was only the third time this season Lidstrom has taken more than one penalty in a game. Think about that. Ninety-one games and Lidstrom has taken more than one penalty three times. I don't think there's another player in the NHL that could cause such a stir over something like that.

To this point, the Blackhawks have played well against the Wings. The Ducks did too. It appeared as though the Ducks had them on the ropes during the conference semis until a wrongly disallowed goal that would have tied Game 3 awoke the sleeping giant. The Wings stormed back to win three of the next four games and take the series.

Chicago is in no way out of this series. They're in a 2-0 hole going home, which certainly isn't insurmountable. But they're going to have to win four of five games against a team that isn't going to beat themselves, something the Hawks have done all too often. They fell behind numerous times against the Flames and Canucks only to mount furious comebacks. But there's one difference between those teams and the one they face now -- this one has the experience and ability to slam the door.

Tags: brian+campbell, BrianCampbell, nicklas+lidstrom, NicklasLidstrom

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)