During the National Hockey League regular season, winning four games in a row is a nice little run.
During the playoffs, when you’re one game from elimination, winning four straight is a mountain.
That’s the climb facing the Blackhawks. They know that one misstep, one more loss in this series against Detroit, will spell the end of their season.
But although the Red Wings are standing only one step from reaching the Stanley Cup finals, they’re keenly aware of how difficult that last step will be.
To take it, they’ll have to kick a hard-nosed, competitive, fight-to-the-finish Chicago team off the ledge.
“I know that locker room well enough to know there’s a lot of character and leadership over there,” said Stu Grimson, an ex-Hawk who scored his first-ever playoff goal Thursday in a Detroit uniform. “They’re going to come out just like they have in every game so far. I expect Thursday’s to be the toughest game of the series.”
That is saying a lot, since the first three games–all Detroit victories–have all been decided by a single goal, and two of them have gone beyond regulation, climaxed by Tuesday’s double-overtime 4-3 Wings triumph.
“The fourth game is always the toughest to win,” agreed Tim Taylor, who has taken advantage of increased playing time at forward in this series and assisted on Grimson’s goal.
“Never say die when you’re talking about NHL players like they’ve got in Chicago,” Taylor said. “If you do, they’ll come back to haunt you.”
Detroit has already seen what a letdown can cost.
When they were up three games to none against the Dallas Stars in the first round, their next game was their worst. It was their only loss in a dozen postseason games this year.
“We came out and we were a little flat,” said Ray Sheppard. “We saw what happens when you do that.”
The Wings were thumped 4-1 before coming back to eliminate the Stars 3-1 in the fifth game.
“When we got up 3-0 in games against Dallas, I think we looked ahead to the next series. Our focus wasn’t there and it hurt us,” said Kris Draper. “Now we can say it was great to learn something like that early in the playoffs. It gave us the killer instinct.”
But coach Scotty Bowman doesn’t think his team needs much reminding that the Chicago series isn’t over yet.
“I think they know perfectly well what they’re up against with Chicago,” Bowman said. “Two overtime games and three one-goal games should make that perfectly clear.”
If they need any more incentive, Detroit might want this series over with just to put an end to the physical cost of victory: Both Sheppard and Sergei Fedorov were knocked out of the game Tuesday–Sheppard temporarily and Fedorov for most of the overtime with a bruised chest after two solid checks within a minute left him writhing on the ice.
In the Hawks’ dressing room after practice Wednesday, Jeff Shantz, who sent Tuesday’s game into overtime with his third-period goal, admitted Thursday’s encounter will be “a bit of a pride game” for his team.
But, he quickly added, the Hawks are looking for more than to avoid being swept: “We’re not out of it in our minds. Once you win the first one, the others come more easily.”
It’s easier to climb when you’re not just hanging on by your fingers.
