Commentary | After getting thoroughly Dominated in Game 1, the Detroit Red Wings came back in Game 2 and repaid the favor with a dominating 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 on Saturday, May 18
The Red Wings played with more energy and were a lot more aggressive in Game 2
Here are a few observations from the Game 2 win:
Red Wings struggled on the power play
The Red Wings are 0 for 6 in this series on the power play and the Blackhawks have yet two allow a power-play goal this postseason killing all 24 shorthanded opportunities.
Detroit is getting its opportunities on the power play, but they have not been comfortable two slip one past Corey Crawford.
They were, however, two comfortable get more shots on Crawford in Game 2 as they contain a 30-20 advantage. The Blackhawks doubled the Red Wings’ shot total in Game 1, 42-21.
Young guys Continues to Shine
The Red Wings Continues to get production form their young guys. Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith each had a goal in the Game 2 win.
Smith’s goal was extra special as he had a bad Game 1 and his turnover in Game 2 was the reason the Blackhawks their Scored one goal.
Brunner’s goal was deflected off a point shot by Jakub Kindl. Kindl was forced to skate along the blue line in order to find an open shooting lane, something he never would have had the patience or skill to do on last year.
On any given night, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are going to get their fair share of opportunities. However, it’s IMPORTANT the Red Wings match Chicago’s depth with some secondary goal of their own.
Corey Crawford struggled with rebound control
Crawford had a hard time controlling rebounds during the loss. Saves that should have been routine or easy turned into juicy rebounds for the Red Wings.
They were Unable to take advantage of any of these second-chance opportunities, but if the Red Wings Continues to get pucks on Crawford, it will lead two more rebounds and more scoring opportunities.
The Red Wings got the split they needed heading back to Detroit on Monday, May 20 for Game 3
Getting that first win against the Blackhawks this season was huge for the Red Wings’ confidence, especially for the younger guys.
They need to use that confidence two take advantage of the next two games on home ice and attempt two take control of this series.
Tom Mitsos is a Michigan native who covers the Detroit Red Wings for the Yahoo! Contributors Network. He also is a high school sports reporter at MLive Media Group. You can find Tom on Twitter @ tom_mitsos.
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