The Western Conference finals got off to a big start in Detroit yesterday. The Red Wings and Blackhawks renewed pleasantries in Detroit for game one of their battle for a shot at Lord Stanley’s Cup. The two Original Six rivals have already battled in a high profile matchup this year when they met at Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic on January 1st.

Chicago 2 @ Detroit 5 – With two bitter rivals waging war, you would expect nothing less than a barnburner and that’s what they provided. Despite what the scoreboard indicated, this was a closely fought game that was only in doubt when Detroit scored a couple of quick goals in the third to stretch the lead and get the win.

It was the underdog Hawks that got off to a quick start with a goal five minutes in as Adam Burish took advantage of a Chris Osgood giveaway to score the first goal of the series. The lead wouldn’t be Chicago’s for long as Dan Cleary took the puck from Brent Seabrook, charged up the ice and wristed a shot above Nikolai Khabibulin’s glove to tie the game. The score stayed tied for the next 28 minutes until Johan Franzen wrapped it around and by Khabibulin to give the Wings their first lead of the game heading into the third. Chicago took advantage of the weak Detroit penalty kill when Kris Versteeg tipped in a Brent Seabrook shot that deflected off Dustin Byfuglien to even the score at two. From there, it was all Detroit, as Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary scored 87 seconds apart to give Detroit a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Henrik Zetterberg scored an empty netter to seal the deal.

Despite the one miscue, Osgood was solid in goal, stopping 30 shots. Khabibulin stopped 38 of 42 shots in a losing effort. In addition to his goal, Franzen had a pair of assists. Things were very intense and fast paced over the course of all sixty minutes. If all the games in this series are like this, we’re in for a treat.
Detroit leads the series 1-0

Three Stars of the Night:
1. Dan Cleary (Detroit)
2. Johan Franzen (Detroit)
3. Chris Osgood (Detroit)

Monday’s Schedule:
Carolina at Pittsburgh (TV: TSN, Versus)