Red Wings Take Game 3 And 2-1 Series Lead Over Blackhawks
DETROIT (AP) —Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller scored 31 seconds apart midway through the second period and Pavel Datsyuk restored a two-goal lead in the third to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the second round series.
Patrick Kane scored 4:35 into the third period to pull Chicago within one. The Blackhawks celebrated as if they tied the game about a minute later, but Andrew Shaw's goal was waved off because he was in the crease.
Datsyuk's goal 6:46 into the final period gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead.
The seventh-seeded Red Wings have a shot to put the top-seeded Blackhawks on the brink of elimination Thursday night in Game 4.
Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 39 saves and Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots.
Chicago has lost consecutive games for the first time in nearly two months.
The Blackhawks began the lockout-shortened season by setting an NHL record with at least a point in their first 24 games, ended it with a league-high 77 points and avoided having a three-game losing streak during the 48-game campaign.
After a scoreless first period in a hot and steamy Joe Louis Arena, Detroit took a 2-0 lead with a pretty goal and a gritty one.
Nyquist patiently carried the puck from right to left and waited for defenseman Brent Seabrook and Crawford to sprawl out to make a shot before shooting the puck.
Miller crashed the net to stuff the puck into the net after Patrick Eaves got to his own rebound to keep pressure on Crawford. Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival started the sequence with a turnover in the Chicago end.
It was a sixth straight goal for the Red Wings, who lost the opener 4-1 and gave up the first goal of Game 2 before going on to even the series with a 4-1 victory.
Chicago escaped getting shut out when Duncan Keith lifted the puck up the ice, over and past Detroit's defense and Kane got to it in time to beat Howard with a low shot.
Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a comfortable cushion again, getting off a wrist shot from the left side that went in and out of the net before Crawford saw it.
NOTES: Detroit coach Mike Babcock won his 77th postseason game, matching Chicago's Joel Quenneville for the most among active coaches and trailing Pat Burns by one victory for 8th place on the NHL's all-time list. ... Chicago hasn't given up a power play goal in its first eight playoff games, matching the 2001 St. Louis Blues for the longest such streak since 1988, according to STATS. ... The Blackhawks put Viktor Stalberg back in the lineup, and scratched Daniel Carcillo, and he got shook up early in the game, missing a check and going head first into the boards.
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