The Two-Goal Curse: Detroit Red Wings Down Chicago Blackhawks in Winter Classic

The Winter Classic at Wrigley Field was truly a spectacle to behold. Between the pregame fireworks and flyover during the anthem, and the entertainment outside of the stadium, the NHL went balls to the wall to try to make the game a success, and it would appear that they did just that.

Before a crowd of just over 40,000 rabid hockey fans, the Detroit Red Wings once again showed their dominant side in a 6-4 victory over the Blackhawks.

Jiri Hudler had two goals and an assist, and Brian Rafalski added three assists. Ty Conklin stopped 33 of the 37 shots the Blackhawks took in the game in recording his second straight Winter Classic victory.

On the 'Hawks' side of the puck, Martin Havlat had an outstanding first period, with a goal and two assists. Ben Eager, Kris Versteeg, and Duncan Keith also added goals in the losing effort.

On the goalie side, Cristobal Huet had a rotten day, giving up six goals on 30 shots and got yanked three minutes into the third period. Nikolai Khabibulin played the last 16 minutes of the contest and stopped all 13 Wings shots.

Now that we’ve recapped all of the important action, it’s time to examine how they lost.

The 'Hawks came out of the gate with a head full of steam and dominated the tempo of the game, outshooting the Wings 14-13 and going into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead.

They passed the puck with precision, mixed it up with the Wings in the corners, and made the Wings play on their heels, which is evidenced by their four penalties in the period.

Reading between the lines, we should have known the Blackhawks would lose this game. As you may recall, in the first two contests between these teams, the 'Hawks had two-goal leads, and both times they ended up blowing the game. Well, history repeated itself again, and they blew the lead and allowed the Red Wings to win the game.

It could be said that the 'Hawks choked under the pressure, or that they were trying to coast being ahead only two goals. Well, reality is that it was a mixture of both.

The Blackhawks got a lead in the game by playing aggressively and going after loose pucks and mixing it up with the Wings in the corners (and in front of the benches like Brent Seabrook). They made their living drawing penalties and making the Wings pay, and the formula worked extremely well.

The instant the second period started, the Red Wings and Blackhawks looked like they had switched uniforms at intermission. The Wings came out aggressively, putting the puck on Huet early and often. They scored in the first minute of the period, and they turned on the jets and never looked back.

As a quick aside right here, there was a lot of talk about the game being like a re-living of the childhoods of the players on the ice. In fact, the NHL set up a mini rink in center field for kids to play on to give the festivities some more pomp and fun. The kids had a good time and even demonstrated some good skills while out there.

The reason I bring this up is because the 'Hawks seemed to revert to the form they had when they were that age. Somehow, they subconsciously became their younger alter egos on the smaller pond, and they didn’t seem concerned with playing fundamental hockey.

The first piece of evidence backing up this conclusion was the occurrences at 4:28 and 4:35 of the second period. Detroit had picked up a quick goal to bring the game to within one, and the 'Hawks may have felt their grip slipping away.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the officials gave Chicago a gift with a questionable goalie interference call on Mariann Hossa, and the 'Hawks got a power play to possibly help swing momentum back in their favor, perhaps irreversibly.

What happened, however, only helped the 'Hawks fritter away their chance. On the ensuing face-off after the penalty, Jonathan Toews, the team captain because of his cool-headedness and leadership skills, committed a foolish high-sticking penalty that negated the power play and gave the Wings new life.

It is unacceptable to take a penalty that quickly into a power play, and in a situation like this, it’s even worse. Toews needs to display better on-ice discretion than that, and I believe that he and coach Quenneville recognize that.

Besides the poor judgment shown by Toews, there was also the matter of the 'Hawks' offense essentially taking the second period off. Their play in the first was aggressive and capitalized on created opportunities, but the second period was completely different.

They played back on their heels, trying to defend their lead rather than expand on it. They also were chipping the puck in way too often instead of trying to set up their offense.

The game essentially evolved into a Detroit attack, Chicago chips in battle for about 10 minutes in the second period, and that was part of how momentum switched to the white jerseyed-clan from the Motor City.

Put simply, the Blackhawks played like the second goal was their “uh oh, here we go again” moment against the Wings. The bad memories generated this season seemed to weigh them down, almost as though the black in the jerseys represented the cloud they felt descend upon the rink.

As for the game in its meaning for the NHL, I think that it can be described as a smashing success, in that it caused the nation to take notice of two Original Six teams.

For the game to be played at Wrigley Field, widely regarded as one of the crown jewels of not just baseball but all of sports, truly showed to fans that hockey is beginning to matter again.The Winter Classic is one of hockey’s best tools to market itself with, and if they continue to play in venues like this, the game will continue to grow.

As a final note on the 'Hawks, I do believe that they will come back strong from this defeat, and I hope that they will be ready for the defending champs when they come back through town again.

The Blackhawks next game will be played at 6 PM on Sunday against the Calgary Flames at the United Center. Gerald Korab, who racked up 1,629 penalty minutes in 975 games as a defenseman, will be signing autographs at the alumni booth outside of section 101.