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.
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