Morning Skate: Blackhawks at Red Wings - Game 3 Preview

7:30p ET, Joe Louis Arena

Detroit, MI

TV: NBCSN, CBC, RDS

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket

Blackhawks Blog: Second City Hockey

Detroit Red Wings Tickets

Smooch my fart-hole, haters.

Brendan Smith scored the winning goal in Game 2.

Love him or hate him. He's not going anywhere. And, if the Red Wings are going to advance past the best team in hockey they're going to need the kids to do exactly what Smith did. Step up.

If I'm the Chicago Blackhawks, I don't think I'm worried yet. No need to panic, but maybe a tiny bit of concern. Chicago is still the better team, but man, the Wings took it to them. Detroit has planted a little, tiny seed of doubt in the back of Chicago's mind. Now it's up to the best players and the kids to water that seed and allow it to grow.

Biggest take away from Game 2? Confidence.

Now the Wings know they can beat the Hawks in a big game. They know they can do it on the road. The kids know what it takes and they weren't just along for the ride. Hell, they were driving the bus at times. Smith is only going to get more confident and better. Damien Brunner continues to score and lead the 3rd line. Jakub Kindl looks like a whole new player. The kids keep growing and the stars keep leading the charge. You couldn't ask for it any other way.

Jonathan Toews is already crying about the refs and the big, tough, mean Red Wings. Captain Serious isn't supposed to get rattled. Time to knock him around some more tonight. Get in his head. Take the Hawks off their game. We're the underdog, but we're not a typical underdog. We're an underdog with a rich Stanley Cup history with players that have been there and know what it takes.

Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Chicago knows that. They know what the Wings can do. Let's turn up the heat some more and continue this unfathomable Western Conference farewell tour.

The Expected Lineup

Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader

Valtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Daniel Cleary

Gustav Nyquist - Joakim Andersson - Damien Brunner

Patrick Eaves - Cory Emmerton - Drew Miller

*

Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson

Brendan Smith - Kyle Quincey

Carlo Colaiacovo - Jakub Kindl

*

Jimmy Howard (starting)

Jonas Gustavsson

Scratches: Ian White, Brian Lashoff, Jordin Tootoo, Mikael Samuelsson and Todd Bertuzzi

Injuries: Danny DeKeyser (thumb) and Darren Helm (back)

BLACKHAWKS	PLAYOFF MATCH-UP	RED WINGS
5-2	Record	5-4
3.14 (4th in NHL)	Goals Per Game	2.56 (9th in NHL)
1.71 (2nd)	Goals Against Per Game	2.89 (11th)
16.7% (10th)	Power Play %	18.8% (9th)
100.0% (1st)	Penalty Kill %	73.3% (14th)
Patrick Sharp (6 goals)	Goal Leader	2 tied with 4 goals
Patrick Sharp (10 points)	Points Leader	Henrik Zetterberg (10 points)

• The Red Wings are 36-40 (W-L) all-time against the Chicago Blackhawks in the postseason. Chicago has won 8 of the 15 series between these clubs.
• Last time these two teams met in a Game 3 in the postseason was May 22, 2009. Chicago won 4-3 in overtime. Detroit came back from a 3-0 deficit. Some guy named Nicklas Lidstrom scored along with Cleary and Ericsson. Of course, Sharp scored the winner in the extra period.
• Howard is 1-5 with a 3.38 GAA and .886 SV% all time in Game 3's during his postseason career. That's not very good. He's also 0-5 all-time at home and 0-2 in overtime. Ouch.