Red Wings control third period en route to series-tying Game 2 win
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By Michael Caples –
In the third period of Game 1, the Red Wings fell apart.
In the third period of Game 2, the Red Wings seized control.
Goals from Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula in the final 20 minutes of play helped the Red Wings pick up a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks in Game 2 at the United Center in Chicago Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Red Wings even the series at 1-1, with Games 3 and 4 taking place at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith (credited with the game-winning goal) also scored for Detroit, who out-shot the opposition 30-20 in the Saturday afternoon contest.
Jimmy Howard stopped 19 of 20 shots for his fifth win of the 2013 postseason.
Patrick Kane had the lone goal for the Blackhawks, which gave the home team the first lead of Game 2. On an odd-man rush that saw Kyle Quincey knock down the initial pass, a bouncing puck still landed on Patrick Sharp’s stick, and a tic-tac-toe passing play that involved Michal Handzus ended with a one-timer goal for Kane.
The Red Wings weren’t able to tie the game until the 2:40 mark of the second period, when a point shot by Jakub Kindl was redirected by Brunner and past Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the Wings’ first goal. Joakim Andersson also picked up an assist on the play.
About 14 minutes later, Smith jumped into a rush up ice, and captain Henrik Zetterberg found the Red Wings’ defenseman open just below the slot. A one-timer from Smith beat Crawford, giving Detroit a lead they wouldn’t ever relinquish.
Franzen increased the Wings’ lead to 3-1 seven minutes into the third period, taking a Jonathan Ericsson behind the Chicago defense, and firing a shot past Crawford to the top shelf short-side. Niklas Kronwall also picked up an assist on the play.
Filppula scored a highlight-reel goal five minutes later – an exclamation point on a dominating third period for the Red Wings. Right off a face-off in the Red Wings’ zone, Zetterberg rushed the puck up ice, and got the puck to Filppula. The Wings’ No. 51 scored on a backhand while he was flying through the air in the slot for the final goal of the afternoon.
Notes: Drew Miller returned to the Red Wings’ line-up for his first game since breaking his hand on April 20. The Lansing native had one shot and two hits in 12:07 worth of ice-time – 02:28 of which was spent on the penalty kill…the Red Wings were out-hit 36-26, according to the official stats sheet…Filppula was a perfect five-for-five on face-offs…Detroit blocked 15 shots, while Chicago blocked 11.