BLACKHAWKS SHUT OUT RED WINGS

The Chicago Blackhawks were in a position where they could have afforded to take it easy in their final regular season game.  They’d already tied up the #4 spot in the NHL West, and already knew that they’d host the Calgary Flames in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Instead of ‘phoning in’ their season ending home game against Detroit, however, they took advantage of the opportunity to maintain their momentum.  Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 37 shots to earn his 41^st career shutout as the Blackhawks shut out the Red Wings 3-0.

In the process, Chicago also gained some valuable confidence against one of the NHL’s elite teams.  The Blackhawks had entered the weekend 0-2-2 against Detroit but after Sunday’s win and Saturday’s 4-2 victory at the Joe Louis Arena finished the season 2-2-2 against the mighty Wings.  The Blackhawks have been one of the hottest teams in hockey down the stretch, going undefeated in regulation play during their final seven games posting a 6-0-1 record.  Afterwards, winning netminder Khabibulin said that his team felt it important to stay focused heading into the postseason:

"It's definitely nice to finish on a high note. The game didn't mean much for either team, but you want to have good habits going into the playoffs. For a goalie, I think anytime you get a shutout it's good. Having said that, you know tomorrow is another day and the regular season doesn't matter anymore."

Hawks captain Jonathan Toews echoed his teammate’s thoughts as they prepare to face the Calgary Flames—a team they posted 4-0 record against this season:

"We're happy we got home ice. Everybody looks at the success we had against them this year, but that obviously means nothing at this point. It's a new season, a new beginning. We're happy to be here at home. We got a lot of momentum going and we got to build off that. And obviously don't let off the gas pedal for a second."

Chicago scored twice in the first period, with Andrew Ladd the first to light the lamp at 7:29 assisted by Brent Seabrook and Dustin Byfuglien.   Jonathan Toews made it 2-0 at the 11:29 mark assisted by Patrick Kane and Martin Havlat.  Khabibulin was exceptional during the opening period, stopping 17 Red Wings’ shots.  Both teams’ defenses took over in the second period, with only 9 total shots on goal as Detroit outshot Chicago 6-3 in a scoreless frame.  The Hawks’ Dave Bolland would tally on the power play at 4:50 of the final period to give his team their final 3-0 margin, with assists going to Kris Versteeg and Brian Campbell.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock downplayed the significance of his team’s back-to-back losses heading into the postseason:

"It's good we got this over with and no one got hurt in these last two games. You always like to go into the playoffs rolling. We're not going into the playoffs rolling. We get a day off tomorrow and get prepared. It's not like we haven't been through it before. We understand what it takes and how hard it is going to be."

Detroit will face the Columbus Blue Jackets in their first round playoff series, which begins Thursday night at the Joe Louis Arena.  The teams will play again on Saturday before the series moves to Columbus on Tuesday, April 21^st.  The Blackhawks will host Calgary on Thursday and Saturday before heading to Western Canada for the next two games beginning Monday, April 20^th.