Chicago Blackhawks

WCSF Game 5, Blackhawks vs Red Wings : 3rd Period Game

WCSF Game 5, Blackhawks vs Red Wings : 2nd Period Game

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports The Detroit Red Wings have gotten under the skin of Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks. Toews has been blanketed by Henrik Zetterberg basically every time he has stepped on the ice since Game 2. He committed three consecutive penalties in the second period on Thursday against the Wings. Jakub Kindl took advantage of the second and handed the Blackhawks their first power play goal against of the playoffs. Toews can’t be spending time in the penalty box if he hopes to help his team climb out of the 3-1 hole they have dug for themselves. He is a leader on the penalty kill, and his absence on the penalty kill unit is much more significant than, say, Andrew Shaw‘s. The Hawks aren’t going to be able to avoid the Zetterberg treatment. When they tried to force the Red Wings’ hand by putting Toews on the second line, the Wings quickly countered by adjusting their matchups and marching Hank out there whenever Toews played. The Wings are forcing the Blackhawks to play their game. Chicago suffered their first shutout of the entire season in Game 4 simply because they weren’t focused on playing their own game. They were worried about how to counter what the Red Wings were doing. Their offense suffered immensely because of it and outside of hitting iron on a few occasions, they didn’t pose the constant threat like they did throughout the regular season. Toews can expect Zetterberg to be matched up against him again in Game 5. If he doesn’t play through the physicality, the Blackhawks will struggle to get anything going yet again. David Fouty is a writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davefouty, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

Series Schedule Date Score W. Goal May 29 '13 May 27 '13 May 25 '13 May 23 '13 CHI 0 at DET 2 J. Kindl May 20 '13 CHI 1 at DET 3 D. Miller May 18 '13 DET 4 at CHI 1 B. Smith May 15 '13 DET 1 at CHI 4 J. Oduya So here we are, the Blackhawks have painted themselves in a corner and unless they start a three game winning streak tonight, their season will come to a disappointing end. So instead of dancing with the girl you brought, Q is shuffling his lines once again. To me this reeks of desperation, but we shall see. It appears we might getting Patrick Sharp with Daydream Nation on the top line. We've seen great things out of this combination in the past and we will need a big encore from them tonight. Just because Q used the lines below in practice this morning doesn't mean we will see them tonight. The lines he used in practice on Thursday were not the same lines he used in Game 3, so we will just have to wait and see. It doesn't matter what the lines are, the Hawks need goals. The stars need to produce and our captain needs to show the hockey world why he should have been considered for the Hart Trophy. Probable Blackhawks Lineup: Forwards Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Patrick KaneBryan Bickell - Michal Handzus - Marian Hossa Brandon Saad - Andrew Shaw - Viktor StalbergMarcus Kruger - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik Defensive PairingsDuncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson Brent Seabrook - Nick Leddy Johnny Oduya - Michal Rozsivala Goaltender Corey Crawford 5-4 1.73 GAA, .935 save %, 1 SO Leading Scorers Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW P. Sharp 9 6 4 10 4 0 1 2 P. Kane 9 2 6 8 2 4 0 0 M. Hossa 9 4 3 7 1 0 2 0 D. Keith 9 1 5 6 3 4 0 0 B. Bickell 9 3 1 4 -2 8 0 1 Probable Red Wings Lineup: Forwards Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin AbdelkaderValtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Daniel ClearyGustav Nyquist - Joakim Andersson - Damien BrunnerPatrick Eaves - Cory Emmerton - Drew Miller Defensive Pairings Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan EricssonBrendan Smith - Kyle QuinceyCarlo Colaiacovo - Jakub Kindl Goaltender Jimmy Howard 7-4 2.22 GAA, .922 save %, 1 SO Leading Scorers Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW H. Zetterberg 11 3 7 10 5 6 1 1 D. Brunner 11 4 4 8 0 4 0 1 P. Datsyuk 11 3 5 8 2 2 0 0 D. Cleary 11 3 4 7 0 2 1 0 J. Franzen 11 4 2 6 -6 6 3 0 Playoff Stats WINGS STATS HAWKS 11 GP 9 7 W 5 4 L 4 1 OT 1 0 P 0 0.636 P% 0.556 2.54 G/G 2.56 2.46 GA/G 1.89 17.5 PP% 12 78.4 PK% 96.9 29.6 S/G 33.2 32.3 SA/G 27.4 52.6 FO% 48.3 Chicago Blackhawks Tickets

Chicago Blackhawks (5-4) vs Detroit Red Wings (7-4) DET leads series 3-1 7pm United Center - Chicago, IL TV: NBC Radio: 720 AM WGN Series Schedule Date Score W. Goal May 29 '13 May 27 '13 May 25 '13 May 23 '13 CHI 0 at DET 2 J. Kindl May 20 '13 CHI 1 at DET 3 D. Miller May 18 '13 DET 4 at CHI 1 B. Smith May 15 '13 DET 1 at CHI 4 J. Oduya So here we are, the Blackhawks have painted themselves in a corner and unless they start a three game winning streak tonight, their season will come to a disappointing end. So instead of dancing with the girl you brought, Q is shuffling his lines once again. To me this reeks of desperation, but we shall see. It appears we might getting Patrick Sharp with Daydream Nation on the top line. We've seen great things out of this combination in the past and we will need a big encore from them tonight. Just because Q used the lines below in practice this morning doesn't mean we will see them tonight. The lines he used in practice on Thursday were not the same lines he used in Game 3, so we will just have to wait and see. It doesn't matter what the lines are, the Hawks need goals. The stars need to produce and our captain needs to show the hockey world why he should have been considered for the Hart Trophy. Probable Blackhawks Lineup: Forwards Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Patrick KaneBryan Bickell - Michal Handzus - Marian Hossa Brandon Saad - Andrew Shaw - Viktor StalbergMarcus Kruger - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik Defensive PairingsDuncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson Brent Seabrook - Nick Leddy Johnny Oduya - Michal Rozsivala Goaltender Corey Crawford 5-4 1.73 GAA, .935 save %, 1 SO Leading Scorers Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW P. Sharp 9 6 4 10 4 0 1 2 P. Kane 9 2 6 8 2 4 0 0 M. Hossa 9 4 3 7 1 0 2 0 D. Keith 9 1 5 6 3 4 0 0 B. Bickell 9 3 1 4 -2 8 0 1 Probable Red Wings Lineup: Forwards Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin AbdelkaderValtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Daniel ClearyGustav Nyquist - Joakim Andersson - Damien BrunnerPatrick Eaves - Cory Emmerton - Drew Miller Defensive Pairings Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan EricssonBrendan Smith - Kyle QuinceyCarlo Colaiacovo - Jakub Kindl Goaltender Jimmy Howard 7-4 2.22 GAA, .922 save %, 1 SO Leading Scorers Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW H. Zetterberg 11 3 7 10 5 6 1 1 D. Brunner 11 4 4 8 0 4 0 1 P. Datsyuk 11 3 5 8 2 2 0 0 D. Cleary 11 3 4 7 0 2 1 0 J. Franzen 11 4 2 6 -6 6 3 0 Playoff Stats WINGS STATS HAWKS 11 GP 9 7 W 5 4 L 4 1 OT 1 0 P 0 0.636 P% 0.556 2.54 G/G 2.56 2.46 GA/G 1.89 17.5 PP% 12 78.4 PK% 96.9 29.6 S/G 33.2 32.3 SA/G 27.4 52.6 FO% 48.3 Chicago Blackhawks Tickets

Joel Quenneville is putting the old band together for Game 5 of their second-round series against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. As the Blackhawks coach always has done during desperate, tough times, it looks like he'll reunite Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for a do-or-die night. It's a line that's work exceptionally well in the past for the Hawks, but always has been disbanded in favor of more balance in their forward lines. But down 3-1 to the Red Wings in the best-of-seven series, it may be Quenneville's best chance to ignite a stagnant offense. But the Red Wings are ready for it. Actually they say they're ready for anything from the Hawks.

At Saturday's morning skate, Patrick Kane skated with Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews. There's no guarantee that those three will be together for tonight's Game 5 against the Red Wings -- Hawks coach Joel Quenneville changed his lines between the skate and Game 4 on Thursday -- but Kane, for one, hopes to get the old band back together. "Hopefully, for sure," he said. "Because we'd like to have that opportunity too step up and do something here." Somebody has to for the Blackhawks, who've scored just two goals in the last three games. And in times of desperation, Quenneville has often resorted to putting those big three together. "For us three, we played a lot together my first couple of years in the league, and just kind of developed some chemistry where it was pretty instant and had a lot of offensive chances," Kane said. "So I think we've just got to remember how to play with each other; we haven't done it in a while. Hopefully we can get a good first couple shifts and get some chemistry back right away." Of course, there's a downside to putting the three together. "We like more of the balance and probably more lines that are a threat to score," said Quenneville, who wouldn't say for sure if the morning lines would hold. Aside from that line, Michal Handzus centered Bryan Bickell and Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw centered Brandon Saad and Viktor Stalberg, and Dave Bolland centered Marcus Kruger and Michael Frolik. Quenneville has the home-ice advantage of making the last change, which means he can keep Toews away from Henrik Zetterberg, who has hounded him all series. But Quenneville said the top two lines for each team have neutralized each other defensively. Regardless of what Quenneville does, Detroit coach Mike Babcock didn't seem terribly concerned. "We've got [Pavel] Datsyuk on one unit, Zetterberg on another unit," Babcock said. "I assume Toews has to play against one of them, and I assume Handzus has to play against the other."

CHICAGO -- As much as the Chicago Blackhawks’ success this season has been thanks to their team effort, forward Patrick Kane said Saturday that it’s time for the team’s stars to step up. The Blackhawks have scored just two goals -- both by Kane – over their past three games. The team’s biggest offensive weapons --Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews -- have combined for four goals in the series. Toews has yet to score in the playoffs.

There's no doubt that immediately before, during and immediately after the national anthem tonight, the United Center is going to be rocking. The trick for the Blackhawks is keeping it loud. With tensions high as the Hawks face elimination in tonight's Game 5 with the Detroit Red Wings, an early Hawks goal could blow the roof off the United Center. An early Red Wings goal, however, could silence it. "It'd certainly be nice to start with a lead and get the crowd right into the game right off the bat," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It could go both ways, but certainly that'd be the perfect start. It's been very tight and [if you] look at all the games, scoring early in the game's been hard to do. Make sure that we put some pressure [early] and get that crowd into it and take home ice and use that to our advantage." Detroit, of course, has other ideas. "I think the first goal is important," winger Daniel Cleary said. "I think both teams like to play with a lead. Saying that, it'd be important for us to get it, quiet it down a little bit." Any goal would be huge for the Hawks at this point. They've scored just two in the last three games combined. "It's huge," Patrick Kane said of getting the first goal. "It'd be nice to play with the lead -- we haven't done that in the last couple of games. It'd be nice to do that and maybe get in [Jimmy] Howard's head a little bit, at least -- he's playing great right now. Seems like they've had a lot of breaks as far as posts, and he's made some big saves for them. Just try to control the tempo of the game, try to get that first one and play with a lead." The desperation factor could play in the Hawks' favor. The Red Wings know it well, having climbed out of a 3-2 hole against the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. "I don't know if it's that easy to match it," Cleary said. "You can say you want to, but they've got a lot of character on their team, these guys have won before, they've trailed before, just like we have. We know [how] an elimination game is at the beginning, how determined the other team is. You've got to focus on your own game and you've got to make sure that you're skating, match their intensity. And it's going to be loud early. The start, the first 10 minutes, will be important." Detroit coach Mike Babcock said his team will be every bit as desperate to close out the series as the Hawks are to extend it "I don't know how they can be any more desperate, or any more scared than we are," Babcock said. "A little fear is a wonderful thing to help you prepare to do your job and life."

CHICAGO -- Here are five things to watch for between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series Saturday: 1. First scorer: The team that has scored the first goal has won three of the series’ first four games. The only exception was Game 2, when the Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead and the Red Wings responded with four consecutive goals. The second period has also been vital in the series.