The Red Wings taught the upstart Chicago Blackhawks a few things about playoff hockey on Sunday afternoon.
The first lesson is, your stars will get smothered. Our first line of Zetterberg, Cleary and Franzen rendered the Blackhawks’ young stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane nearly ineffective.
The second lesson is, be patient. Seven games makes for a long series and while the Wings seemed to be lackadaisically, it’s more likely that they were simply waiting to see what kind of game the Blackhawks would bring them, and match that appropriately.
The third, and final lesson: watch the role players. The Wings top players played a good (if not great) defensive game. It’s the players you don’t expect, the Clearys, the Helms, the Filppulas, who will do the damage when the big guns are playing D. If you can’t match the role players, you won’t advance.
I still think it will be a long series. The Blackhawks have too much offensive talent and a solid, if aging, goaltender, who can steal a game and build this young team’s confidence.
Game 1 Video Highlights from CBC.ca
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