That was a huge win. Both teams needed the 2 points and Chicago took them. With this loss the Red Wings dropped from 2nd place in the Western Conference down to 4th. St Louis leap frogs Phoenix into 2nd place.
Not many teams have been able to go into Detroit and take 2 points. The Wings did recently set a NHL record with 23 consecutive home victories.
That’s the key word…Team. The Hawks played like a team again. Just as they did in victories over the Maple Leafs and Senators. Patrick Kane has really stepped up his game and more importantly he has taken over the role of leader. That void has been glaring with Jonathan Toews out. Good thing since Toews isn’t expected to play Tuesday in St Louis. Another huge road game for the Hawks against a division rival.
Kane scored the game winning goal off a nice feed from Patrick Sharp. Sharp had another strong game with 2 points for the 2nd consecutive game. His first point was a goal. Not just any goal but a power play goal. Sorry, i probably should have warned you to sit down first before I said that. Don’t look now but the Hawks have scored power play goals in 2 consecutive games. No I’m not lying. No I’m not pulling your leg. I don’t want to believe it either but I saw it with my own 2 eyes. Crazy things do happen!
The great thing about this victory for the Hawks is that once again it wasn’t just the Stars. It was everybody chipping in.
Another great take away is how the Hawks stood up for each other. 2 penalties that the Hawks had to kill off were from teammates sticking up for each other. That’s great to see. Those are good penalties and penalties that you have to kill off. Even if the Wings didn’t have Datsyuk or Lidstrom they are still a very tough team to beat. Especially at Joe Louis Arena.
Shaw fought Smith and Smith probably won that fight but come on…Shaw probably weighs 20 lbs less then Smith and is a few inches shorter. Love the “fight” in the kid. Even if he lost the fight it was good to see the little guy go in with no fear. It was also good to see the Hawks swarm Holstrom after he crashed the net when the puck was caught in the netting. All five skaters made sure he knew there was a price to pay for crashing the net. Great stuff.
The consensus in the Blackhawks’ dressing room was they played a complete game.
“Just playing that team game we’ve been seeking for the whole season,” forward Jamal Myers said.
Ray Emery once again was solid in net for the Hawks. The net is his for the rest of the year. You can bet on that.
Jimmy Howard started in net for the Wings but did not play the 2nd and 3rd periods. Howard is day-to-day.
“I don’t think it’s too serious. I’ll get it looked at tomorrow morning and we’ll go from there,” Howard said. “Throughout the period it was just getting tighter and tighter. They decided to take me out.
I have to tip my hat to Niklas Kronwall. He had Patrick Sharp lined up to get “Kronwalled” and Sharp said after the game that Kronwall told him that he was going to hit him. That gave Sharp a chance to get his head up. Funny thing was that while they both went down Kronwall took the worst of the hit. Kronwall scored the only goal for Detroit.
The Wings didn’t allow the Hawks to play their high flying game. In fact the Hawks only could muster 18 shots on net. While you would like to see more then that, they won the game 2-1. The only goal the Wings did score was on a shot deflected off Oduya who was screening Emery. Other then that…nothing. That’s impressive. Keep it up Hawks.
TTS
taping the stick 