Red Wing's 3rd/4th Lines Play Huge Role In Game 3 Victory!

Red Wings celebrate after Rookie, Gustave Nyquist puts them up 1-0 in the second period of Game 3.

Wow!!! What a game last night at Joe Louis Arena!! Game 3 showed how much our young guys have truly come together and grown. Our third and fourth lines played extremely well and had a huge impact in this game getting us an early lead. After the Hawks came out with a surge of shots on Jimmy Howard in the first period (15 shots), the Wings settled down and got into a groove.

Just about halfway through the second period, Brunner made a fantastic touch pass off the side boards that led to Nyquist's highlight reel of a goal! Rookie Gustav Nyquist gained control of the bouncing puck, brought it across his body through one defender and waited until two defenders went down and scored. Showing not only his great hands, but also a ton patience to wait until Crawford fell down to put it past him for the game's first goal. 

"The more you can wait,” Nyquist would later say, smiling, “the bigger the net.”

Nearly a half a minute later, 31 seconds to be exact, the Red Wings went up 2-0 on Drew Miller's goal. He showed great tenacity and never gave up on the rebound while poking it in the net. After a nasty hit that kept Franzen on the ice, Patrick Kane received a great pass and put it through Howard's five-hole to make it 2-1. In the blink of an eye, the game felt close again. But our veteran super star showed the world why he is the most magnificent player in the NHL. Pavel Datysuk sent a lazer in the top left corner of the net that was nearly impossible for any goaltender to save...just ask Jonas Hiller from the Ducks who was scored on with an identical goal from Datsyuk in the first round! Datsyuk stepped up again, blasting another game changing goal past Cory Crawford which sealed the Wing's Game 3 victory!

Jimmy Howard faced 40 shots tonight, saving 39 and is really elevating his game time after time in big playoff situations. I can't say enough about our goalie who has bailed us out all season long and continues to thrive in the spotlight. As my friend Paul G. stated on facebook, "Jimmy Howard. If you didn't respect him before, you do now."

This series is starting to heat up with a lot of physical play from both teams. Chicago's Seabrook started it off with a cheap hit, shoving Cleary into the crossbar that wasn't called by the refs.  Bickell and Shaw continued to be bullies all night looking for fights and pestering our wings defenseman. But the Red Wing's won the hits battle tonight (28-22) and killed all five of Chicago's power plays.

The Red Wings are playing very well right now but need to focus on our power play. We were 0 for 5 on the PP tonight and have to start taking advantage of that if we want to continue on. Great overall effort by our lower lines as well as our veteran's in taking Game 3 in Detroit!  Game 4 will be in Detroit on Thursday as we set our sites on a 3rd win of this best of 7 series!