Red Wings not alarmed by third-period struggles

So far in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, third periods are not the Red Wings’ best phase. The Blackhawks and Ducks have outscored them, 15-5. But how much does it matter, and is there a specific cause?

• Photos: Red Wings practice ahead of Game 2

Blackhawks taking aim at greatness

Recent history suggests they can’t. The salary cap is designed so they won’t. But that won’t stop the Blackhawks from trying to become the kind of team that dominates the NHL in a way the Red Wings and Devils did for long stretches of the last two decades.

Red Wings' Drew Miller declares he’s ready to play

Help is on the way. Maybe. Red Wings forward Drew Miller (broken bone, hand) could be in the lineup for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

• Photos: Red Wings practice ahead of Game 2

Friday's NHL roundup: Sidney Crosby's hat trick powers Penguins

Working in wide-open swaths of ice left by Ottawa’s tentative defense, the Pittsburgh superstar needed just over one period to complete his second playoff hat trick and lift the Penguins to a 4-3 victory Friday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Criticism of Red Wings' Brendan Smith puzzles player, coach

Nobody on the Red Wings played particularly well in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Blackhawks, but few seemed to take the abuse on social media and network airwaves like Smith.

• Photos: Red Wings practice ahead of Game 2

Red Wings' Mule is in need of a kick-start

Somebody better kick the Mule again. And they’d better do it while the Red Wings are still alive and kicking because they’re probably not going to be for long if they don’t get something more out of Johan Franzen in the Western Conference semifinals against the Blackhawks.

• Photos: Red Wings and Stanley through the years
• Interactive: Red Wings vs. Blackhawks: matchups, key players

Red Wings-Blackhawks rivalry was at its pinnacle in 1964, 1966

Just a few years before, the Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup. A few years before that, the Red Wings had won several of them. The Hawks were an offensive juggernaut with a strong, mobile defense corps and fine goaltending.

• Photos: Red Wings and Stanley through the years

Red Wings expect day off to give them a push

It was something rare, but the schedule for the Western Conference semifinals between the Red Wings and Blackhawks is strange. Game 1 was Wednesday, with Game 2 on Saturday.

Game 1 against Red Wings pleases Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

It’s a hockey cliché, but when one team dominates another, it’s often referred to as tilting the ice. In Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday, it was the Blackhawks tilting the ice in their favor in a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings.

Thursday's NHL roundup: Brad Marchand gives Bruins OT lift

Boston’s leading goal-scorer during the regular season scored his first of the postseason with 4:20 left in the first overtime and the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the first playoff game in 40 years between the Original Six teams.

Jimmy Howard can't bail out Red Wings in opener

This one was hardly Howard’s fault. For nearly 50 minutes, he was about the only reason the Wings still had a chance to steal an early series lead, or at least force overtime.

• Photos: Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 1 -- Game 1

After furious start, Red Wings' game fizzles

Missing utterly from the Red Wings’ execution was the forecheck, forwards supporting defense, defense moving the puck well and taking care of it and easy breakouts from their own zone and through center ice.

Blackhawks' Patrick Sharp shows signs of ending slump

Patrick Sharp scoring six goals in 28 regular-season games was a bit of concern for the Blackhawks. Sharp was hampered early in the season by a shoulder injury, but now, six games into the postseason, he appears no worse for wear.

Blackhawks' penalty kill remains ruthlessly efficient

There was absolutely no drop-off in Chicago’s 4-1 victory at the United Center as it killed off another three penalties to remain perfect for the postseason ...

Game 1 three stars by The Detroit News’ Matt Charboneau

The Blackhawks' Patrick Sharp netted a goal and two assists in Game 1 to earn No. 1 star honors while Wings goalie Jimmy Howard stopped 38 shots in goal to ...

Red Wings have hard time keeping up with speedy 'Hawks

The final 40 minutes of Chicago’s 4-1 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Blackhawks seemed to have all the energy and speed while ...

Dam breaks in third period as Wings fall in Game 1

Much more skilled, talented, and every bit as good as the Blackhawks' league-best record would indicate,Wednesday's 4-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game 1 of ...

Zero chance Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk will play in Russia in 2014, Babcock says

There has been heavy speculation that Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk will return to play in his native Russia when his contract runs out after next season. ...

Selke finalists Pavel Datsyuk, Jonathan Toews square off in series

On Wednesday, Pavel Datsyuk and Chicago's Jonathan Toews were named finalists — along with Boston's Patrice Bergeron, who won the award last year — for the ...

Cory Emmerton returns to Red Wings’ lineup for Game 1

Emmerton was a healthy scratch in Game 7 of Round 1 against Anaheim. But Emmerton will re-enter the lineup Wednesday night because of a recurring pectoral ...

Speedy Blackhawks forward Viktor Stalberg scratched for Game 1

Coach Joel Quenneville says it’s a "coach’s decision" and Stalberg could get back on the ice at any point in the series. He says he has talked to Stalberg ...

Red Wings revel in underdog role against favored Blackhawks

Now the task is to beat the Red Wings, beginning with Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday at the United Center. And that’s something this ...

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks: Breaking down the teams

The Wings and Hawks are familiar foes, but this is how they stack up respectively in their second-round playoff series, which begins Wednesday at the United ...

Red Wings-Blackhawks playoff series lifts spirits, fills coffers

This next meeting, which hearkens back to series filled with plot twists and turns, will be played out before fans from two working-class cities, Chicago and ...

Red Wings bask in luxury of having manageable travel schedule

Detroit traveled to Chicago on Tuesday night in preparation for Game 1 tonight — just as the Red Wings would during the regular season — and are planning to ...

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks: 5 Keys to the series

Detroit News staff writer Ted Kulfan shares his five keys to the NHL second-round playoff series between Original Six foes the Red Wings and Blackhawks, which ...

Red Wings F Justin Abdelkader advances into vital role

At the beginning of March, the question to coach Mike Babcock was: Why are you playing Abdelkader with Pavel Datsyuk? By the end of the first week in May, it ...

Tuesday’s NHL roundup: Kings blank Sharks in Game 1

With yet another dominant playoff performance by goalie Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles opened the NHL’s fourth all-California playoff series with its fifth ...