RED WINGS TOP BLACKHAWKS IN OT, LEAD SERIES 2-0

The Detroit Red Wings now own a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks in the best of seven NHL Western Conference Finals by virtue of a hard fought 3-2 OT victory at the Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night.  Mikael Samuelsson scored at 5:14 of the first overtime to give the Wings the victory, with the series now shifting to Chicago’s United Center for game three on Friday night.

Sports bettors who had backed the Wings were rewarded for their -210 investment, while the combined five goals dipped UNDER the posted total of 5’.  Detroit has now brought home the money in 16 of the last 24 meetings between the two teams.   The Blackhawks have been installed as a -130 home favorite in game three, with the total posted at 5’ OV -125. 

The Blackhawks got on the board first via Jonathan Toews’ power play goal at 12:49 of the first period assisted by Martin Havlat and Cam Barker.  Detroit quickly knotted the contest at 1-1, however, when Brian Rafalski scored on the power play at 16:43 assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk.  Daniel Cleary’s unassisted goal at 14:06 of the second period game the Wings a 2-1 advantage, but Blackhawks’ captain Toews would again light the lamp at 12:20 of the final period assisted by Kris Versteeg and Brian Campbell to tie the score at 2-2 and send the game to overtime.

Detroit would score the decisive goal at 5:14 of the first overtime period when Blackhawks’ defenseman Brian Campbell turned the puck over near his own blue line.  The Red Wings quickly mounted an ‘odd man rush’ into the Chicago zone, with Jiri Hudler feeding Valtteri Filppula.  Filppula deftly dropped the puck back to Mikael Samuelsson who beat Hawks’ goalie Nikolai Khabibulin with a wrist shot from the slot. 

Chicago now faces a tough task, needing four wins in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Blackhawks’ head coach Joel Quenneville  stressed the importance on focusing on one game at a time:

"We want to beat them one game, the next one, and that's our concern. We should be excited about being back in the United Center to recapture some excitement and enthusiasm."

Wings coach Mike Babcock also cautioned against writing off the Blackhawks just yet:

"This gives us a good start, but this is a team that is going to be tough to put away.”

Still, he was happy to win a game where he admitted his team wasn’t at their best:

"I don't think we had any legs or any pop whatsoever. I thought we had good will and good determination, but no legs."

The Red Wings have done well playing on the Blackhawks home ice in recent years, posting a 6-5 mark with 5 of those games playing UNDER the total (4 OV, 2 push).  In theory, the Blackhawks benefit from a more wide open game that allows them to use their excellent team speed.  For that reason, if you’re looking to back Chicago in game 3 a look at the OVER might also be advisable.  In the Blackhawks last six playoff victories, four have gone OVER the total.