Red Wings on brink of Stanley Cup finals after whipping Blackhawks 6-1 in Game 4

The Detroit Red Wings' depth of talent and resiliency were never more on display than today in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against a desperate opponent in a hostile environment.

Missing their league MVP candidate forward, Pavel Datsyuk, was damaging enough. But the Red Wings also played without their perennial Norris Trophy-winning defense man, Nicklas Lidstrom.

It didn't faze them one bit, however, as they played with the poise and polish of a Stanley Cup champion.

Marian Hossa had two goals and one assist and Valtteri Filppula, filling in for Datsyuk on that line, picked up a goal and two assists as the Red Wings pounded the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 at the United Center to move to within one game of returning to the Cup finals.

The Red Wings lead the series 3-1 and can wrap it up Wednesday in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit did not miss either of its injured stars. Datsyuk sat out the second straight game with a bruised foot sustained in Game 2. Lidstrom was scratched before the game due to a lower-body injury. suffered in Game 3.

It was the first playoff game Lidstrom, a six-timer Norris winner as the NHL's top defenseman, has missed in his 17-year career. He had appeared in 228 straight, dating back to 1992. He is listed as day-to-day.

The Red Wings scored three power-play goals and once while shorthanded. They led 3-0 less than two minutes into the second period and were up 5-1 after two periods.

Henrik Zetterberg also scored two goals and Johan Franzen tallied his team-leading 10th goal of the playoffs. Brian Rafalski had three assists and Niklas Kronwall contributed a pair of assists.

Goaltender Chris Osgood stopped 18-of-19 shots through 40 minutes and was replaced by Ty Conklin at the start of the third period. Osgood, who hurt his knee in Game 4 against Columbus during the first round, was taken out for precautionary reasons, the club said. No. 3 goalie Jimmy Howard quickly dressed to serve as the backup.

Cristobal Huet made his first start of the playoffs for Chicago, replacing the injured Nikolai Khabibulin. Huet allowed four goals on 17 shots and was replaced by Corey Crawford at 4:05 of the second period with his team trailing 4-1. Huet returned at the start of the third period.

Blackhawks leading scorer Martin Havlat, knocked out of Game 3 in the first period after a hit by Kronwall, returned to the lineup but took a hard hit from Brad Stuart early in the second period and left the game.

Chicago might have started to gain some momentum when Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal at 3:53 of the second period to cut Detroit's lead to 3-1.

But Hossa answered 12 seconds later by streaking down the right wing and firing a harmless-looking wrist shot past Huet.

The Blackhawks lost their composure and began taking bad penalties. Zetterberg made them pay at 7:42 of the second period by scoring on a two-man advantage to make it 5-1.

Chicago had a good chance to strike first against Detroit's struggling penalty-killing units, but Hossa scored shorthanded at 8:41 of the first period, converting a pass from Filppula during a two-on-one.

Franzen made it 2-0 with 20.7 seconds to play in the first period, rushing into the zone and firing a shot between the legs of defenseman Brian Campbell that caught the far top corner of the net.

Filppula made it 3-0 at 1:13 of the second period, on the power play, banging in the rebound of a shot by Hossa.

Zetterberg closed out the scoring with a power-play goal at 12:47 of the third.

Good luck figuring out these Stanley Cup playoffs...

The NHL conference semifinals proved one thing yet again. Just when you think you have everything figured out, you do not know squat.

The team that looked like they were poised for their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1994, Vancouver, was ousted in six games by the young but feisty Chicago Blackhawks.

When it looked like young Washington goaltender Simeon Varlamov was going to lead the Capitals deep into the playoffs, the Penguins chased him early in the second period of their 6-2 Game 7 victory.

When the Red Wings and Hurricanes seemed sure to close out their series in six and five games respectively, the Ducks and Bruins fought back to force seventh games.

In total, 27 games were played in the second round and the vast majority of them were nail-biters.

Before looking ahead to the conference finals, let us take a look at the top performers in the playoffs so far.

° Best team (so far) — Detroit. Vancouver may be out of the running, but the balance of power remains in the Western Conference. As expected, the Ducks took them to the brink, but the Ducks were much better than their No. 8 seed suggested.

Just because they are very good does not mean that they are perfect. Pavel Datsyuk has just one goal and four assists. But this team has more than enough going for it to bring the cup back to Hockeytown for the 12th time.

° Conn Smythe Trophy winner (so far) — Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh. How can one argue with 12 goals and nine assists? He had a memorable hat trick in a memorable Game 2 against the Capitals and scored the first goal in the Penguins’ Game 7 blowout in that same series.

But what makes Crosby even more valuable is his ability to work with linemate Evgeni Malkin. The Russian has six goals and 13 assists of his own and together they make the Penguins a dangerous team.

° Best series (so far) — Anaheim vs. Detroit. True, the Penguins-Capitals series was great as a showcase of the league’s two biggest stars. But this was a showcase of two great teams.

Watching it was like watching a heavyweight fight. Anaheim’s physicality was matched by Detroit’s precision and skill. When it looked like the Ducks were pressed to their limit, their best player Ryan Getzlaf led them back to a seventh game.

In the end, the winner of the series was the old sports axiom — who wanted it more. Dan Cleary wanted to score just a little more than Jonas Hiller wanted to keep the puck out of his net.

Speaking of the Red Wings, let us begin by looking at the battle between two of the original six.

° No. 4 Chicago vs. No. 2 Detroit. If you read this newspaper in January, you know I have a little personal experience with this matchup. Unfortunately, none of the games are slated for the friendly confines at Wrigley Field.

Fortunately, it will be a showcase of two legendary clubs stacked with talent. Detroit will be led by Johan Franzen, who seems to always be at the right place at the right time. All he has done is score eight goals and add seven assists.

Franzen is far from Detroit’s only weapon. Center Henrik Zetterberg has six goals and eight assists, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom has three goals and eight assists and Cleary has nine points, a plus-minus of 10 and the series-winning goal against the Ducks.

Chicago has plenty to offer as well, specifically four players with 10 or more playoff points. Martin Havlat leads them in points (13) and assists (8) and Patrick Kane leads them with eight goals to go with his four assists.

Kris Versteeg and Jonathan Toews have added 10 points with four others (Brian Campbell, Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook and Dave Bolland) trailing behind with nine.

The Red Wings’ Chris Osgood has had to stand on his head at times, but has a goals-against average of 2.06 and save percentage of .921, making him the No. 2 netminder in the postseason. The Blackhawks’ Nikolai Khabibulin has not been shabby, giving up 2.76 goals per game and posting a save percentage of .896.

Both teams are strong on the power play. Chicago ranks first in the postseason, converting 29.4 percent of their chances. Detroit is second, turning 26.4 percent of their opportunities into goals.

The Blackhawks are a young, talented team certain to make waves in the future. But the Red Wings won four of the teams’ six matchups during the regular season because of their experience. That sounds about right for the postseason as well. Red Wings in six.

Now let us go back east for a series between two teams that did not figure to be where they are in January.

° No. 6 Carolina vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh. This matchup may not be as anticipated as the Penguins-Capitals series was, but it has the potential to be just as good.

The aforementioned Crosby and Malkin lead a Penguins team that has found itself after Dan Bylsma took over as head coach.

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar has eight assists to go with a pair of goals, right wing Bill Guerin has five goals and four assists and defenseman Kris Letang has three goals and six assists.

Eric Staal has found the net nine times for the Hurricanes in the postseason and has four assists to go with them. Once waived by Tampa Bay, Jussi Jokinen has found a new lease on life in Raleigh, notching six goals and four assists on the postseason. Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose have added nine points each.

Both goaltenders have Stanley Cup Final experience, Marc-Andre Fleury, who got to the final last year, has a goals-against average of 2.72 and a save percentage of .901. Cam Ward, who won the Cup in 2006, is in line for a Conn Smythe repeat with a 2.22 goals-against average of and a .927 save percentage.

The Penguins have the stronger power play, converting 19.4 percent of their chances to just 10.4 percent by the Hurricanes. But Carolina has the stronger penalty kill, keeping opponents out of the net 90.7 percent of the time to 81.6 percent by the Penguins.

The Hurricanes have overachieved to get this far and Ward has been spectacular. But unless they can find an answer for Crosby and Malkin, they will be watching the Stanley Cup Final on television. Penguins in six.

...BUT IN THE END - THE WINGS WILL TAKE ER' AGAIN...!

GO WINGS GO!!