The Red Wings Upset the Anaheim Ducks
After a chaotic game 7, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks to advance to the Western Conference semi-finals. Their opponents? None other than the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks. This may be the last time that the Red Wings and Blackhawks meet up in the playoffs for a long time, since the two teams will be in different conferences after this season.
What to Watch For
The series will be hard-hitting, gritty, and full of animosity. These two teams bring out the best (and worst) in each other every time they face-off. The Blackhawks goal tender, Corey Crawford will have to be spectacular, as the Red Wings are already primed to play against tough goal-tending. Anaheim goal tender, Jonas Hiller, is widely regarded as one of the top ten goalies in the league. Yet Detroit found countless ways to beat him from odd-man rushes, to inconsistent rebound control. On the other end, Red Wings goalie, Jimmy Howard has been simply spectacular. He will be primed to resist the Blackhawks’ elite offense, and he has become accustomed to sustained pressure from Anaheim’s offense.
However, the Blackhawks have not lost to the Red Wings during the regular season. One particular game resulted in a 7-1 rout over Detroit, and another resulted in an improbably 2-1 win, courtesy of a dazzling shootout goal by Patrick Kane. The return of goalie, Ray Emery, and Center, Dave Bolland will give the Blackhawks more depth, at much needed positions. Jonathan Toews has been the only center with a notable face-off win percentage. The Blackhawks have already enjoyed the benefit of key players returning from injuries. Forward, Patrick Sharp has already scored 5 goals in the playoffs. His astonishing performance comes at the heels of what some would call a lackluster, 6-goal season, riddled with injuries.
The strongest asset for the Blackhawks has definitely been goal tending. Over the course of 5 games, Corey Crawford allowed just 7 goals to the Minnesota Wild’s potent offense. Crawford tallied one shutout and gave up three goals on only one occasion, which was the Blackhawks only loss of the series. Coach, Joel Quenneville is extremely familiar with the Detroit Red Wings forwards style of play, which will help with line formations, and advanced scouting reports.
If the Blackhawks can stay relatively healthy, history is on their side. The odds that Chicago and Detroit will match up in future playoff series has gone down drastically. So, unfortunately this could be one of the last times that we see these two teams match up in the playoffs in a very, very long time.
About the Author: Prateek Maitra
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