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Wings-Hawks Game 4 Preview

May 24, 2009 at 1:31 pm | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL
By: StevieY19

Almost all of the talk about the Red Wings and Blackhawks the last couple of days has surrounded the massive hit on Martin Havlat dished out by Niklas Kronwall of the Wings. Hearing the Blackhawks and Red Wings react to the check, you’d think they watched two different plays. The Wings say clean hit with the shoulder not leaving the feet and the Hawks use words like forearm, elbow, fist, jump, and gutless.

The reality is that we’re looking at something in the middle, but much closer to a clean hit. While Havlat didn’t have the puck on his stick, he was absolutely ready to carry it up the ice and couldn’t have been any closer to the puck. Kronwall’s forearm came up and he came off his feet, but it was after the blow was delivered. Awful, awful call to throw him out of the game on what wasn’t a penalty, but hey, too bad…it’s 2-1.

Fact is, the Hawks are saying what they should be saying. Havlat is a leader on this team and they’re going to rally around him by calling Kronwall a goon. Every bit of motivation counts. Anyway, Game 4 starts in about a half hour, so let’s get to the bullets.

The Hawks know they can’t carry out some kind of revenge plan on Kronwall today. They need to play the same kind of disciplined hockey that has kept them in the series. When they’re focused and limit the turnovers, they’ve been the better team for a good part of the series.
Injuries will play a gigantic role in this game. For Chicago, it’s looking like Huet in place of Khabibulin, who left Game 3 with an injury before Huet shut the Wings down for the third period and OT. Havlat is doubtful until he can remember what year it is. For the Wings, Kris Draper is out again and Pavel Datsyuk will be a game-time decision with a foot injury.
Lots of scoring from defensemen in Game 3 as Seabrook and Keith got on the score sheet with assists. For Seabrook especially, it was nice to see some contribution in what has been a rough series.
The Hawks are 3 for 3 in scoring first so far. Today they have a great chance to really put some pressure on Detroit with another early goal. Put one past Ozzie in the first and thoughts of going back to Detroit at 2-2 will creep in.
It will be interesting to see how Huet does after preparing to start. In Game 3 he was thrown into a tough spot and didn’t allow a goal. If I remember correctly, Huet started the Winter Classic and was pulled, so Game 3 was a good confidence boost.
I thought Andrew Ladd played a great game Friday and he might need another without Havlat. Can’t wait to see how the young guys respond after having two days to let the theatrics of Game 3 settle.

One thing is for sure: the crowd is going to be insane. Nothing like a big hit to create a villian to fire people up. I’m sure fans will be even more strong in voice when sharing their feelings on Detroit throughout the game. Get ready, because the game starts in less than 30 minutes. 2 PM CT on NBC.