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Hawks Drop Close Game With Red Wings

Written by: EricC on 8th March 2010

After taking an early, two goal lead, the Chicago Blackhawks fell victim to five consecutive goals from the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago did manage to add two more on to their score before the time expired, but they just couldn’t tie it up. The only real bright spot on the game was that Andrew Ladd got his first NHL Hat Trick! Congrats to Ladd, and the Blackhawks still remain a game ahead of the Red Wings in regards to their season match ups, with one final game left between them in the Regular Season.

Less than five minutes into the game, Duncan Keith put in his 13th goal of the season off an assist from his Defensive, Canadian partner, Brent Seabrook; Keith now trails Mike Green by two goals for Leading Defensive Goal Scorer. In the 11th minute, Ladd had his first goal, sending Chicago into the second period up by two goals.

Unfortunately, the Red Wings really came out strong in the second period; not only did they dominate the goal scoring for the period, but they took a three goal lead on the Hawks. Their first came during a Power Play in the fourth minute, followed by a tying goal less than a minute later. Nearly half way through the period, they took the lead for the first time, and then extended that lead less than a minute after that. At this point, Cristobal Huet was switched out with Antti Niemi, who would have gone scoreless, and possibly sent the game into Over Time, if not for his single goal allowed in the final three seconds of the period.

Chicago came out much better in the third period, with Ladd putting in his second goal during the opening two minutes. Then, with a little under eight minutes left in the game, Ladd got his Hat Trick and made it a one goal difference. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks just couldn’t put one more in before the game ended.

Before being pulled, Huet had 13 saves, with the majority of them coming from the first period, where he managed to go scoreless. Unfortunately, his save percentage for the second period was 50%. Niemi didn’t have to work too hard, only making seven saves during his time in the game; however, he had some big saves that really kept the Hawks in the game until the final horn blew.

The Blackhawks will get a few days of rest before taking on the Los Angeles Kings this Wednesday, March 10th, at 7:30 P.M. CT. The Blackhawks are currently 1-1 with the Kings, this season.