Detroit Red Wings' Keys to Win 2nd-Round Playoff Series vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Detroit Red Wings will take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

The Wings come in as obvious underdogs, qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season and clinching the No. 7 seed in the process. 

They've already pulled off one upset this playoff season, so how do they pull off another one?

Here are seven keys to victory in the Red Wings' second-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

1. Frustrating the Blackhawks' Forwards in the Neutral and Defensive Zones

The Red Wings gave up 21 goals in their first-round series victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

Quite simply, they were dominated in the first few games of the series, but managed to shut down the Ducks in Game 6 and Game 7. Detroit was never adept defensively until the game seemed to be on the line.

But in Game 7, the Red Wings never trailed in the contest, neutralizing the Ducks on offense and giving them no room on the ice to get quality shots on goal.

The Red Wings tied up the Ducks in the neutral and defensive zones, not allowing the Ducks to connect on passes or get clean shots on goal.

If the Red Wings are to have any success against the Blackhawks, they must keep them from skating freely between the blue lines and free-wheeling in the Red Wings' end.

2. The 3rd Line Must Outplay Chicago's 3rd Line

Damien Brunner had two goals and five points, Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist and Joakim Andersson had two assists. Those three players came together to form the third line for the Red Wings in their first-round series against Anaheim.

Both Brunner and Nyquist had game-winning overtime goals.

In the playoffs, most fans could say what the top players in a series will do. Players like Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa will be looked upon to put up points.

But those players will be playing against each other more likely than not, so it will be left up to the Red Wings' third and fourth lines to get the job done. How much the Detroit's third line and bottom-six score is not the question.

The question is, can the Red Wings' young guns come up with big-time goals like they did in the first round against the Ducks?

3. The Defense Must Take Another Step Forward in This Series Against Chicago

The Red Wings have had a "patchwork" defensive corps all season long.

Game 7 against the Ducks proved to be their "coming out" party, as the Red Wings had their best collective defensive effort of the season, shutting down the Ducks' forwards at will and clearing the puck with ease.

Players like Kyle Quincey, Jakub Kindl and Brendan Smith all stepped up in Game 7 to help the Red Wings advance to the second round.

Sure, Jonathan Ericsson had a puck go in the goal off of his own foot, but by and large, the Red Wings were solid up and down their defensive corps.

The big question for the Red Wings is whether they can do it again against the best offense in the Western Conference.

4. Datsyuk and Zetterberg: Will They Dominate or Be Dominated?

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were the best offensive players on the Red Wings in the regular season with 49 and 48 points respectively. The pair also combined for 15 points in the first round of the playoffs—Datsyuk had eight points and Zetterberg had seven.

But Datsyuk and Zetterberg (who were split up for Game 7 by coach Mike Babcock) are going up against an equally good two-way pairing in Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews.

Red Wings fans know Hossa, as he spent a year in Detroit and led the Wings to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Hossa and Toews are both very good at both ends of the ice, so the question remains: of the Datsyuk-Zetterberg and Toews-Hossa matchup, which team gets the better end?

The simple answer is that Detroit needs Zetterberg and Datsyuk to win that matchup, or at the bare minimum, win the matchup at one end of the rink (i.e. shut down on defense or dominate on offense).

The Red Wings will look to their captain and assistant captain, once again, to make plays in the clutch for them.

5. Shutdown Patrick and Patrick

Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp occupy two spots on the Blackhawks' second line.

But forget the second line, these two could easily play on any other first line in the NHL. Kane finished fifth in the NHL's regular-season scoring race, while Sharp put up five goals and six points in the first round of the 2013 playoffs against the Minnesota Wild.

Kane had five assists, so one might be able to put two and two together as far as how much they influence the Blackhawks' scoring as a team.

While these two players are not as gifted on defense as Hossa and Toews, they remain a serious threat on offense. Shutting them down in Detroit's end should be a top priority, or else the Red Wings will witness what the Wild found out firsthand: that Patrick and Patrick can put pucks in the net at a moment's notice.

6. Take Advantage of Special Teams

Chicago had a 1.52 Goals For/Against ratio while playing 5-on-5 during the regular season. If the Red Wings have any chance of defeating the Blackhawks, they will need the special teams to be special.

Unfortunately for the Red Wings, the power play (six goals on 25 chances in the first round) will be hard-pressed to find any luck against Chicago as the Blackhawks didn't allow a power-play goal in the first round against the Wild, and ranked third in the regular season at 87.2 percent.

However, the Blackhawks didn't score much on the power play in the first round, going just 2-of-13 with the man advantage and ranking 19th in the NHL at 16.7 percent during the regular season.

But with the likes of Hossa, Toews, Sharp and Kane lurking around that power play, the Red Wings need their penalty kill to be stellar to have a chance to win.

7. Slow Down the Game to Minimize Offensive Chances for Chicago

In Game 7 against the Anaheim Ducks, the Red Wings hurt the Ducks the most with their cycle game behind the net. The Ducks just couldn't keep up with the Red Wings on multiple occasions and it led to some scoring chances for Detroit.

While the cycle game might not be as effective with Chicago, the Red Wings need to keep in mind that with a highly-skilled, offensive team like Chicago, the best defense is keeping the puck away from the Blackhawks.

Slowing the game down to a snail's pace and making the Blackhawks earn every square inch of ice will be the Red Wings' ultimate key to victory in this series.

The Red Wings were able to frustrate the Ducks in Game 7, so with similar grinding tactics, Detroit should be able to keep the game at a pace where they can compete and hold their own.

For more article updates, Follow @isaacesmith91