Red Wings-Blackhawks, Game Four: The Statement Game Detroit Needed

(Photo by Jim Prisching/Getty Images)

The Detroit Red Wings came back from a 3-0 deficit in Game Three, only to lose in a devastating manner early into overtime.

Sami Pahlsson made a fantastic play with a backhand pass to Patrick Sharp, who found the back of the net to send the United Center into a frenzy.

This all happened without Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings looked lost in that first period, as Chicago worked the puck and found the back of the net on a few lucky bounces and good team hockey.

The Red Wings scored three goals in 4:23 late in the second period. A stalemate in the third led to overtime, where it took just under two minutes for the aforementioned play to take place.

This sets the stage for Game Four on Sunday afternoon. Not only is Pavel Datsyuk still out of the Red Wings' lineup, but Captain and future first-ballot Hall-of-Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is also an injured scratch.

That overtime loss that surely left a horrible taste in the Red Wings mouths. If they lose Game Three without Datsyuk, they surely lose Game Four without Datsyuk andLidstrom, right? As an optimist, even I found it hard to believe the Red Wings would turn the tables after Game Three.

Marian Hossa has recently been labeled as "soft." This may be due to his unbelievable hot streak during last year's playoffs, and the performance so far this postseason not matching up to that. But he answered his critics with a shorthanded goal off a Chicago turnover in the first period.

As we've seen in this series, a one-goal lead is not as safe as one would like. Hell, neither is a three-goal lead, given what occurred in Game Three.

As the period came to a close, Johan Franzen carried the puck up the near-side boards, and made a great play, using the Blackhawk defenseman's legs as a screen to net one over Cristobal Huet's blocker side.

As the Red Wings took a two-goal lead into the intermission, all seemed good, as the Red Wings took advantage of a few turnovers and mishaps on the part of the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks' biggest enemy in Game Four was themselves. Ben Eager and Kris Versteeg both took questionable penalties on more than one occasion, resulting in Red Wings power plays, and the Red Wings capitalizing on those power plays. Ben Eager took two 10-minute misconduct penalties and Kris Versteeg another.

During the second period, Versteeg took a cross-checking penalty that Chicago killed off. As Versteeg was heading back to the bench after leaving the penalty box, he took another penalty before the play had come to a halt. This ill-tempered behavior is what hurt the Blackhawks—that, and timely scoring from the Red Wings.

Chris Osgood, was tested only 19 times.  That may not be much, but another reason why the Red Wings succeed is because they block shots and force opponents to make decisions before they want to. Osgood was tested only 19 times, but he gave up only one goal. Osgood played to his best when his number was called.

Jonathan Toews cracked Osgood's shutout with a power-play goal off his own rebound in the second period. As Chicago cut the lead to 3-1 in Detroit's favor, they may have had their own thoughts about a three-goal comeback in mind—but the "soft" Marian Hossa closed all thoughts of that out with a goal a mere nine seconds later.

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