Chicago Blackhawks Force Series Back To Detroit After 4-1 Victory!

May 25, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center

(19) is congratulated by his teammates for scoring a goal against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period in game five of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

The first period started like the last two games in Detroit had started with the Hawks dominated the action with forechecking and getting shots on Jimmy Howard, and like those two games Howard was up to the test to hold the Hawks at bay.  The Hawks did come out hitting and for a rare period out hit a team this time 11-9 with Brent Seabrook playing with his old pal Duncan Keith laid out a Red Wing early.  The Hawks habit of taking really bad penalties didn’t disappear in the first period when Viktor Stalberg took a horrible hooking penalty off a faceoff in the Hawks zone.  The Red Wings got 4 of their 11 shots of the period off during the man advantage but Corey Crawford was up to the challenge making his best saves of the period.  The Hawks finally got on the scoreboard with constant pressure by the Hawks,  and after a lot of work Bryan Bickell put the puck in the empty net.  The only buzz kill had to be the very late powerplay by the Hawks that didn’t muster anything but bad vibes when the horn sounded with the Hawks leading 1-0.

The second period has been a dreadful period for the Hawks in this Detroit series and the trend seemed ready to continue and frustrate the Hawks.  Danny Cleary scored during a 4 on 4 and the air was let out of the United Center.  The game was about to turn at a rare event after Drew Miller hooked Jonathan Toews and the Hawks went on the powerplay.  The Hawks put on one their most productive powerplays and it finally paid off when Keith fired one from the point that was deflected in  by Andrew Shaw, who remarkably finally made a positive play in this series.  Four minutes later Justin Abdelkader decided to give Patrick Kane a few two many cross-checks and went to the box, and after a great holding the zone play by Keith the puck found the stick of the Captain who finally got his first playoff goal this season.  Dave Bolland took a really stupid penalty that the Hawks killed the first half of before the horn sounded but will need to kill off the last  :41 seconds of at the start of the third period to keep their hard fought 3-1 lead.

The Hawks fought off the last part of the Red Wings powerplay with a nice play by Duncan Keith breaking up an outlet pass which he did successfully a couple of times during Red Wings powerplays  throughout the game.  Crawford only had to face four shots in the third period as the Red Wings seemed ready to pack it in and just try to win Game #6 at Joe Louis Arena.  The Hawks kept up the pressure like they did in Game #1 without all the annoying penalties to kill the momentum.  Andrew Shaw on a real good hustle play scored his 2nd goal of the game and the final tally in the Hawks 4-1 victory.

– Michal Handzus made two great shot blocks when the game was in question.

–Jimmy Howard is playing great in net for the Red Wings and it will be a huge task Monday night to beat him in Detroit

– Duncan Keith has found his 2010 form and has played fantastic the last two games on both ends of the ice.

– Bryan Bickell price tag continues to go up with every playoff goal.

-Bickell put a huge hit on Niklas Kronwall and Kronwall never seemed right after it and only took a couple of shifts the rest of the game.

-The Hawks were much improved at faceoffs with the Hawks winning 30/61

– Game #6 is Monday night puck drops at 7pm.

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