Morning Box Score: Red Wings Clip Blackhawks

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 18, 2009 2:20PM

On Sunday afternoon, the highly anticipated Western Conference finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings got underway at Joe Louis Arena in the Motor City. In the end, the defending NHL champs won 5-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the seven game series. 'Hawks fans were the ones cheering early on, as Chicago scored the first goal of the game when Adam Burish backhanded a loose puck into the net. Former Hawk Dan Cleary evened the score for Detroit just moments later, and the first period ended with the score knotted at 1 goal apiece. Johan Franzen gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead in the second period.

Taking advantage of a power play early in the third, Kris Versteeg tied the game at 2-2, knocking a rebound from a Brent Seabrook slap shot past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. Detroit added two more goals by Mikael Samuelsson and Cleary to take a 4-2 lead late in the third period before adding an empty netter when the 'Hawks pulled Khabibulin for another skater. Patrick Kane, whose hat trick helped close out the series with Vancouver earlier in the week, was held without even a shot on goal on Sunday, while Jonathan Toews was held shotless in the first two periods. While Khabibulin allowed four goals past his pads, he stopped 38 shots on Sunday.

The Hawks now have today to regroup before the two teams face off tomorrow night in Detroit for Game Two. The game will be carried on Versus, which is carried by Comcast but you'll need to shell out the extra cash for the expanded sports package on RCN. Or just head to a bar you trust knows how to use their dish network.