The Chicago Blackhawks staved off elimination on their home ice Saturday night, topping the white-hot Detroit Red Wings 4-1, and cutting the Wings' series lead to 3-2. Tonight, at 8:00 p.m., the Blackhawks will attempt to knock off Detroit on their ice, at Joe Louis Arena, where Chicago has yet to win in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Network and can be live streamed for free here. Blackhawks fans can listen to the game at 720 WGN while Red Wings fans can tune in to 97.1 FM The Ticket.
After three consecutive dominant games, Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard finally showed he was human again, surrendering two power play goals in the second period that eventually sank Detroit. One of those goals was scored by Jonathan Toews, one of Chicago's biggest stars. It was his first goal of the series.
Toews said he had heaped pressure on himself to perform, knowing his excellence is vital to the Blackhawks' success. "For sure, I put more pressure on myself," Toews said. "Considering we only scored two goals in three games, you feel like in big-time situations you need to find a way to do something."
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock did not seem comfortable at all with a 3-2 series lead, and was not happy that Detroit didn't press their momentum in Chicago's building. "You got to put teams away, they're not going away," Babcock said. "It's not like they got a holiday booked somewhere they got to get to. They're competing to stay in it. I thought that was evident and it was a real good message for our team. We got to play harder, more desperate, more organized, more detail-oriented. We weren't a very good hockey team."
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville believes his team has taken the momentum back in the series. "Now, we just want to try and sustain it."
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