Pre-Game Skate: There is no pre-game skate for me tonight. I had to sneak into the Press Box as it's a little crowded up here and I had to wait until the last minute to see if somebody didn't show up so I would have a place to sit. (Somebody didn't, I'm pleased to report.) Still, I could be ejected at any time for Improper Seating. Remember sneaking into the good seats when you were a kid? This is the adult, professional version of that. Before that happens, while we are here, we may as well write, don't you think? Chicago needs this one more than the Wings do. Detroit, with 97 points, is all but assured of a playoff spot. The defending Cup Champion Blackhawks meanwhile are fighting for their lives. They have 88 points, good for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, but are only one point ahead of ninth-place Calgary and only two ahead of tenth-place Nashville. The Wings have Joey MacDonald in goal tonight. Jimmy Howard was injured when he was run into as Toronto scored the game-tying goal here Saturday night in the third period. It's being called a shoulder sprain but there are whispers of a rotator cuff injury. Pavel Datsyuk is out again tonight: the fifth straight game Detroit's best player has missed due to what was at the time called a relatively minor lower body injury. Johan Franzen is back in tonight's lineup. He missed Detroit's last four games.
7:43pm: Chicago scores early. At 2:55, MacDonald gave up a juicy rebound off a long wrist shot from the point and Jonathan Toews is right there to bang the rebound in. It's his 31st goal of the season. Chicago is 29-9-5 (.733) when scoring first this year. Detroit is 15-18-3 (.458) when scored upon first. Todd Bertuzzi has just gone off, a 5-minute major for elbowing and a Game Misconduct to boot at 5:17 That's big trouble for the already-injured Red Wings. This one could be over early.... Then again, Marian Hossa gets a slashing minor to even the sides less than 90 seconds after the Bertuzzi major. The crowd, still annoyed with Hossa for either not-resigning with Detroit two years ago after spending a single season as a Red Wing or for playing as poorly as he did in the playoffs that year, it's hard to tell, really, cheers the news lustily. They cheer even more lustily when the Wings tie it on the ensuing 4-on-4 at 7:36. Nicklas Lidstrom's left point blast finds its way through a screen past Chicago goalie Corey Crawford to tie the game at 1. I do not think the shot was tipped. It wasn't. It's Lidstrom's 15th goal of the year. FIRST PERIOD DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 1.
8:05pm: Literally while they were announcing on the PA system a tripping penalty on Darren Helm at 13:08, Chicago scored the go-ahead goal. A cross-crease pass found Brent Seabrook all alone just off to the side of the net to the right of MacDonald and he slammed it by for his 6th of the year at 13:18. Chicago struck quickly on the power play. The goal came exactly :10 after the penalty to Helm had been whistled. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 2.
8:17pm: It's over. It was a good first period. 14 shots a side. The big news was Bertuzzi being excused for the night just five minutes into the game. END OF THE FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 2.
8:40pm: Two developments to report here early in the second but no change on the scoreboard. The Wings had a 3-on-1 and failed to get a shot on goal (which is a sin) and Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom had a clear-cut breakaway and got hauled down from behind as he drove the net. Not only was there no penalty shot, there was no penalty call at all. The fans booed (especially when they showed the replay on the Big Board) and I'm not going to sit here all night arguing with them. It looked like it should have been a penalty shot to me. The Wings have otherwise spent the first five minutes of the period turning the puck over. Chicago's outshot them 7-3 in the second but MacDonald keeps bailing them out, so far. Eventually though, if Detroit keeps it up, one of those turnovers is going to cost them. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 2.
9:04pm: I told you Chicago was getting a lot of chances out there. They outshot the Wings 16-9 in the second period, but they failed to make the Detroit pay. It was a scoreless period, thanks largely to Detroit goalie MacDonald. Chicago is 30-4-3 (.851) when leading after two. Detroit is 7-20-3 (.283) when trailing after two. END OF SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 2.
9:30pm: The Wings tie it on a power play goal by Zetterberg on a shot from behind the net. They have announced the goal for Dan Cleary, but clearly (see what we did there: Cleary and clearly) the puck bounced inn off the skate of Chicago's Chris Campoli when Zetterberg threw it out in front. The goal came at 2:26 and we will bet each and every one of you a dollar right now they wind up giving it to Zetterberg, except that gambling at the rink is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 2.
9:33pm: At 4:22 the go-ahead goal by Chicago is waved off and, while it is being reviewed by those guys in Toronto who sit around and watch TV and who have the final say (which has always struck me as kind of odd, but, whatever), if you ask me, this one will be waved off: no goal. Former Red Wing Tomas Kopecky used what we in the hockey business call "a distinct kicking motion" to send the puck past MacDonald. The wave-off was immediate and, according to the arbiters in Toronto at League Headquarters, correct. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 2.
9:50pm: For the second time in a row here in the third, Chicago is going on the power play. This is a nail-biter with 7:19 left and, yes, they did change the tying goal to Zetterberg. And I stand corrected on the power play thing. While Niklas Kronwall did get a minor, so did Chicago's Marcus Kruger, so we skate 4-on-four for the next two minutes. We may be skating four-on-four in few minutes more, should nobody score in the next seven minutes of regulation. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 2.
10:04pm: I stand corrected--not the first time that has happened tonight--on the 4-on-4 thing in overtime because with 4 seconds left in regulation time, Zetterberg gets a minor for hooking. So, it's a four-on-three and Chicago has the four. Shots in the 3rd period: Chicago 9/39, Detroit 12/35. It has been a terrific game. Well-paced, plenty of chances. The toughest situation to defend is four-on-three when you've got the three, though. So we shall see.... START OF OVERTIME: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 2.
10:07pm: Yep, just like that. it's over. Chicago established possession in the Detroit zone with the man advantage and the Wings never got close to getting it back. The Blackhawks threw it around the perimeter until the much-hated Hossa got it between the circles and fired it past MacDonald. It took less than a minute, with the goal coming at 0:51 of OT. Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith got the assists. The goal came on Chicago's second shot in overtime. Detroit didn't have any. With the point the Wings improve to 44-22-10 for 98 points and inch closer to clinching a playoff spot. They lead San Jose in the race for second in the Western Conference by a single point. Chicago moves past Anaheim and into seventh place for the moment. The Ducks are home tonight to Colorado. In any event, Chicago has a three point lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the West. St. Louis--a team which is out of the playoff hunt--will be here Wednesday night to wrap up the Wings five-game homestand and we'll be back with you for that. FINAL SCORE (OT): DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 3.
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