Game 1 Western Conference Finals

Detroit Red Wings vs Chicago Blackhawks: Detroit wins 5-2 (Detroit leads series 2-1)

The Chicago Blackhawks were resilient for the first 45 minutes of the game, tying it up at 2-2 with an early 3rd period power play goal, their first power play of the game. And then the Detroit Red Wings played championship hockey, exposing the youth of the Blackhawks with a relentless offensive attack and not allowing any good shots on goal for Chicago. Pavel Datsyuk, much criticized for his play in the Anaheim series, did not register a point, but with Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary, and Samuelsson stepping up, it doesn't look like the Red Wings will need much from their superstar.

Chicago cannot afford to go down 2 games to none in this series, especially with the way Detroit manhandled them today. Khabibulin was their only bright spot, but the defense in front of him (the highly praised young defense core) simply got rolled over by the offense of Detroit. Many experts predicted Detroit in 5 or 6, but if the Red Wings don't win game 2, I don't see an easy victory coming to the defending champions. Chicago needs to recognize the magnitude of game 2 and come out playing the dominating hockey defensively that helped them outlast the goaltending of Vancouver and outplay the offense of Calgary.