Some days youre just grateful you get a point and get out of town. The Blackhawks were probably feeling that a little on Saturday afternoon.
Jonathan Toews tied the game with less than a minute remaining in regulation, but Todd Bertuzzi scored his second of the game in overtime as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Blackhawks 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena.
The Blackhawks remained atop the Central Divisionone point ahead of Detroitand second in the Western Conference. It was the fourth consecutive game the Blackhawks mustered at least a point.
That the Blackhawks even got to overtime was impressive, considering their forgettable start. The Wings, who won their 14th consecutive game at home, came out buzzing. Detroit had 10 shots on goal before the Blackhawks had oneMichael Frolik ended the drought about seven and a half minutes inand outshot them 21-4 for the period for a 2-0 lead.
Terrible start to the game, coach Joel Quenneville said. (There was) too much standing around watching them. Nobody had any movement. Well definitely take a point and move along.
If not for the work of Corey Crawford, who stopped 40 of 43 for the game, it couldve been worse.
Its tough to say why (we started bad), said Marian Hossa, who assisted on Toews game-tying goal. It seems like they controlled the game at the beginning. They were skating, we were standing. The good thing is, we get one point.
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The Blackhawks finally woke up later in the second, when a goofy puck bounce off the back boards led to Andrew Shaws third goal of the season. They took that momentum into the third period, where they outshot the Red Wings 11-0 in the first six-plus minutes. But when Drew Miller went for a double-minor high-stick, the Blackhawks seemed to lose momentum instead of capitalize on the ensuing power plays.
They got it back when Toews deflected Hossas shot with 52 seconds remaining in regulation. But the Blackhawks overtime looked much like their first period, as the Wings outshot them 9-0 with Bertuzzi winning it.
It (Valtteri Filppulas shot) went up in the air and I just lost it for a second. I think (Bertuzzi) one-timed it as soon as it hit the ice and it just squeaked through, Crawford said. It was just another tough, tough game against them. But we were able to battle back and bring it into overtime.
Yes, that start left a lot to be desired. The end nearly made up for it. Sometimes, you just take the point and get out of town.
Were not going to beat ourselves up about it, Toews said. When you work your way back, you feel that extra point is yours. It is a little disappointing. We have to learn from it and be better next time we play these guys.