Red Wings serve notice to Blackhawks
CHICAGO — In case they weren’t aware, the Chicago Blackhawks know they’re going to have to earn it if they want to get past Detroit.
The Red Wings hammered home that message Saturday.
Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith scored in the second period and Detroit beat the Blackhawks 4-1 in Game 2 to even their Western Conference semifinal series.
It was a strong response by the Red Wings after the Blackhawks handled them easily in the series opener 4-1.
“We’ve got a real good club now,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “And we haven’t been good all year. We’ve just gotten better.”
The Wings’ confidence got a big jolt after Detroit knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy winners and avoided falling into a hole. It was another big win by a team that finished seventh in the con- ference, only to knock off second-seeded Anaheim in the first round.
Now, they’re even with a team that has rolled along all season and is eyeing its second Stanley Cup in four years.
“Both teams would be stupid if they thought they were going to come in here and either team win four straight,” Chicago’s Brent Seabrook said.
Just as the Blackhawks did in Game 1, Detroit took control in the second period and put the game away in the third. Now, the Red Wings have a chance to take the lead when this series between Original Six rivals shifts to Detroit for Game 3 on Monday.
“Overall, I think we had more energy,” the Red Wings’ Henrik Zetterberg said. “We did a lot of the little things better than we did in Game 1 and when we got our chances we were able to put the puck in the net.” SHARKS FINED $100,000
The NHL fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 for general manager Doug Wilson’s public comments about forward Raffi Torres’ suspension.
Torres was suspended for the rest of the secondround series against Los Angeles on Thursday for an illegal check to the head of forward Jarret Stoll in Game 1.
“It is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit,” Wilson said.
From wire reports