Chicago Blackhawks (20-6-7) @ Detroit Red Wings (23-7-5)

4 – 0 Loss

Tuesday night, the Hawks and Red Wings played the first of a home-and-home series that ends with the much anticipated and over hyped Winter Classic. The Hawks come into this matchup on a 9-game winning streak.

Detroit took the opportunity to make a statement and set a tone going into Thursday’s game. They took it to the Hawks through special teams, scoring 2 of 6 on the man advantage. They also killed off all 6 Hawk’s PPs, including 2 opportunities early in the game. More importantly, Detroit took it to the Hawks physically. They were hitting early and often, starting with a Dan Cleary hit on Patrick Kane. Cleary got an elbow up and Kane went down awkwardly, injuring his right leg. After giving the leg a test drive before the second, Kane returned for the rest of the game, but his frustration was evident.

The physical play seemed to take the Hawks out of their game. The Hawks weren’t hitting back and the lack of size and grit was apparent. The little offense they found was overshadowed by the play of Ty Conklin. He didn’t need to make a ton of spectacular saves as the Hawks made it easy for him.

What hurt the Hawks most was stupid, unnecessary penalties. Some of it appeared to be frustration with the inability to get anything going. But if you know you are playing a team with the 2^nd ranked PP (26.7%), staying out of the box is key. The Hawks had the same number of power plays (6) and moved the puck well, but never beat Conklin.

No one player stood out for the Hawks. They will get their chance to even things up on the biggest stage of the season. Hopefully they took this loss personally.

Positives:

× Aaron Johnson returned to the lineup

× Kane’s injury could have been a lot worse.

Negatives:

× Stupid penalties

× Just a poor outing overall

Game Notes:

× Cam Barker didn’t play because of a lower body injury.

× Brent Sopel was placed on IR

× Adam Burish was activated from IR, but a scratch for last night’s game.

MVB (Most Valuable Blackhawk):

× No one

Next Matchup:

January 1^st, Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks

Record:

20-7-7 47 points

http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2008020543