2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Finals

Take away a Hart Trophy finalist and a Norris Trophy finalist from most teams' lineups and you’d take away their chance at victory.

The Detroit Red Wings took the ice for Game 4 of the Western Conference final minus Norris finalist Nicklas Lidstrom and Hart candidate Pavel Datsyuk and they still took it to the Chicago Blackhawks, posting a 6-1 verdict Sunday at the United Center to gain a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven series.

“We were missing key players from our team, but we had to deal with it,” said Detroit centre Henrik Zetterberg, who scored twice. “We had to step up.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock insisted he wasn’t surprised at the grit displayed by his defending Stanley Cup championship squad.

“I really felt our team was going to dig in,” Babcock said. “I thought Zetterberg had great leadership. I thought (right-winger) Marian Hossa had an unbelievable game. Our back end was solid. We had a lot of good goaltending, showed a lot of poise and urgency early, and they never really got going.”

First-time collar

Lidstrom's absence marked the first time in the 17-season career of the Wings captain that he had missed a Stanley Cup playoff game.

The six-time Norris Trophy winner had played 228 straight playoff games since joining the Wings for the 1991-92 season. That was so long ago that Lidstrom’s first Stanley Cup game was played against the Minnesota North Stars.

“I was in the cab on the way over here, when I found out about Nick,” Babcock said. “He’s a pretty good player, as you know.”

Detroit players were equally caught off guard.

“I didn’t see it coming, like everyone else,” defenceman Niklas Kronwall said. “I think it just made everyone else come together more.”

Lidstrom’s totals are both a Wings club record and the National Hockey League mark for the most Stanley Cup games played by a European-born and trained player.

Babcock described Lidstrom’s injury as, “Short-term. We hope to have him back Wednesday (for Game 5).”

Sick bay

Detroit was without centre Datsyuk (foot injury) for the second straight game and was also missing centre Kris Draper due to a groin injury.

Draper, who came back for Game 7 of the second round against Anaheim after missing the first 10 games of the playoffs due to an upper-body injury, indicated he’d pulled his groin while striding down the ice late in the third period of Game 3.

“It’s frustrating, because this is nothing even close to the other (injury),” he said.

While Draper’s status remains unclear, the Wings indicated they hope Datsyuk will be ready to go for Game 5.

Goalie go-round

Chicago went to its third goalie in four periods when Corey Crawford made his Stanley Cup debut, coming in to replace starter Cristobal Huet after Hossa made it 4-1 in the second period.

Huet, who won in relief of the injured Nikolai Khabibulin (lower-body injury) in Game 3, was making his first start of the playoffs and looked shaky. But Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, recognizing he’ll likely have to ride Huet the rest of the way, returned him to the net to start the third period.

“He hasn’t played much,” Quenneville said. “I wanted to change the momentum in the second and we went about it that way (switching to Crawford). Then we wanted to give (Huet) some playing time, too, because he hasn’t played much.

“We think going forward that can help.”

Meanwhile, Detroit switched to backup Ty Conklin to start the third period in favour of starter Chris Osgood, as Conklin saw his first action of the playoffs.

“He was dehydrated,” Babcock said of Osgood. “They had him hooked up to the IVs and it didn't work, or it didn't come back quick enough, so we had no option. We’ll give him a good day off, get the fluids back in him and go from there.”

Havlat leaves

Knocked unconscious by a check from Kronwall in the first period of Game 3, Chicago right-winger Martin Havlat was a surprise starter for Game 4.

However, he was hit again by a check from Detroit’s Brad Stuart three-and-a-half minutes into the second period and did not return.

“Marty was fine,” Quenneville said. “He was ready to go. He was flying out there and had a good start to the game, I think he really progressed the last two days.

“We did what we could and he did what he had to do. We’ll see how he is going into Wednesday.”

Four score

For the third straight Game 4 of the playoffs, Detroit right-winger Hossa produced a two-game performance. He hasn’t scored a goal in any of the club’s other playoff games this spring.

“I thought he was awesome,” Babcock said. “He played big, was physical and took the puck to the net. We needed him to step up and he really did.

“I thought in particular his (second) goal, our fourth goal, really put a knife in them.”

Bombastic Blackhawks

Babcock felt that Chicago spent too much time obsessing over Kronwall’s hit on Havlat and was of the opinion that the Blackhawks’ undisciplined play had to do with seeking retribution against the Wings.

“Kronwall, in my opinion, had a real nice finished check on Havlat in the game before,” Babcock said, reiterating his belief that no penalty should have been assessed. “They were busy making amends for that. In the end, we end up on the power play lots, which is beneficial for us.”

Even some of the Blackhawks felt they got a little carried away with their undisciplined play.

“It gets to be 4-1, then we get frustrated and we start taking some dumb penalties,” Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith said. “We’ve got to keep our composure, be smarter.”

'Worst call in the history of sports'

After Game 4, it was Quenneville’s turn to put the blame for his team’s failures on the men in the striped shirts. He was especially incensed by a roughing call on Matt Walker at the end of the first period that led the Valtteri Filppula’s power-play goal, which put the Wings ahead 3-0.

“I think we witnessed probably the worst call in the history of sports at the end of the first period there,” Quenneville said. “That call, I’ve never seen anything like it. They ruined the whole game. That’s basically the gist of what I’m trying to say.

“It’s a nothing play and now the score is 3-0. They absolutely destroyed what was going on out on the ice.”