Close-in shots fired wide of the net, over-skated pucks and a general lack of a consistent offense plagued the Black Hawks Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.
And the Hawks didn`t survive the plague.
Detroit got goals from Petr Klima and Darren Veitch in the first period and then held on for a 3-1 victory in the opening game of the teams` best-of- seven playoff series.
The Hawks swept the Red Wings three straight in the playoffs two years ago, but this is a different Wings` team.
A crowd of 19,124 saw Detroit stifle the Hawks Wednesday until Bob Murray scored midway through the third period. Detroit`s Shawn Burr closed out the scoring midway through the last period.
Coach Bob Pulford`s team didn`t have the same intensity it had in Sunday`s 5-2 victory over Toronto.
The Red Wings always seem to play with intensity. They aren`t known for scoring a lot of goals, but they are building a reputation for shutting down the Hawks.
Klima opened the scoring at 3:09. He took a pass from Adam Oates at the Hawk blue line and moved in alone on goalie Bob Sauve, faking to the left and scoring on a forehand shot. The goal came 12 seconds after the Hawks had killed a bench penalty for too many men on the ice.
The Hawks had a chance to tie the score when defenseman Dave Lewis was penalized for tripping Wayne Presley at 10:47, but the power play stalled. The Hawks were 5-for-31 on the power play against Detroit in the regular sedason. Veitch`s power-play goal at 14:54 proved to be the winner. His shot from the right point eluded Sauve, who was screened by Gary Nylund.
The Hawks looked disorganized at both ends of the ice during the 20 minutes, rarely threatening Stefan with good shots, but often putting Sauve in danger.
Pulford changed the lines in the second period. The first three lines in the opening period were Bill Watson, Denis Savard and Steve Larmer; Al Secord, Mike Stapleton and Rich Preston; and Ed Olczyk, Troy Murray and Wayne Presley. In the second period, Pulford reunited Secord with Larmer and Savard, a seldom-seen line this season after playing together in the past. Watson moved to the line with Troy Murray and Presley, and Olczyk went from that line to play left wing with Mike Stapleton and Rich Preston.
The second period was a dull, sloppily played 20-minutes, but there were a few altercations. Nylund scuffled briefly with Bob Probert behind the Hawk net midway through the period. Later on, Nylund and Joe Kocur battled with Kocur getting the advantage.
The Hawks called up left wing Dan Vincelette from Drummondville, whose team had been eliminated from the Quebec Major Junior League playoffs. Vincelette had 35 goals and 69 points this season in 51 games. In his three-year junior career, he had 82 goals and 188 points in 185 games and 652 penalty minutes.
The Hawks` last victory at Joe Louis Arena was Jan. 10, 1986, a 9-4 triumph.
Game No. 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played Thursday at Joe Louis before action moves to the Stadium for games Saturday and Sunday. If necessary, the fifth game will be played here Tuesday while game six at the Stadium has been moved from Thursday night to 3 p.m. Friday. The Bulls play Thursday at home.
”Home ice advantage doesn`t really mean much anymore,” said Sauve.
Darren Pang was Sauve`s back-up Wednesday night. Murray Bannerman was not in uniform for the fourth straight game.
