Even With Depleted Lineup Wings Put ‘Hawks Away In 5

With Detroit a man down Darren Helm streaked up the ice with the puck on his stick and gained the Blackhawks’ zone. Not content to simply get it deep and go for a change he broke to the left, curled around the net and proceeded to eat up a good 25 seconds of Chicago’s power-play time single-handed. The crowd roared their approval, waved their white towels above their heads, and Helm skated to the bench and took a seat next to his teammates.

No smiles, no hand shakes — those would come after he scored the game-winning-and-series-clinching goal at 3:58 of overtime — just dogged determination to make his time on the ice as productive as possible, because come the Stanley Cup Finals he might not see much more of it.

Such is life as a “secondary” player on the Detroit Red Wings.

Click here for Game 5 highlights and stats.

When news broke that Detroit would be without Nicklas Lidstrom (upper body injury), Kris Draper (pulled groin), Pavel Datsyuk (sore foot) and Jonathan Ericsson (surgery after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis) for Game 5 a lot of people’s hopes for a quick end to this series sunk like the economy.

“They’ll never be able to pull it off without four of their key players,” they said.

“This is an elimination game, and Chicago won’t just lay down for them,” they said.

“Detroit needs Lidstrom on the blue line for games like this,” they said.

“You never know how good they are until a series like this,” Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook said. “We knew they were good, but they showed us how resilient they are.”

Enough said.

Helm has yet to score a goal in the regular season while wearing a Detroit jersey — he spends most of his time with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate — but you wouldn’t know that judging by the way he’s played in this year’s Cup run. He has three goals and a veritable sack full of hits, and as mentioned above his ability to control the puck is on par with some of the elite players in the league.

“Being in Grand Rapids gave me a pretty big opportunity to go down there and develop,” said Helm. “Coming up here and getting a chance to play, it’s been a great experience for me. I try to pride myself on being a key player in playoffs. That’s what I tried to do throughout last year’s run and this year’s run, as well.”

So far so good.

But it wasn’t just the players like Helm and Cleary — he scored the game’s first goal off a deflection — who helped cement Detroit’s second straight Cup Finals appearance. Chris Osgood was also brilliant, swatting pucks away like they were mere annoyances as opposed to shots fired with bad intentions. He ended the game with 30 saves, but none bigger than his sliding blocker knock on a Chicago 2-on-1.

So Chicago’s done and over with, and now it’s time for the grudge match with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The winner hoists the Cup and the loser goes back to the drawing board. Said Marian Hossa, who wore a different colored sweater last summer when Detroit took care of the Penguins in six games:

“It’s a unique situation right now, definitely this doesn’t happen often. I try to make the best of the situation for myself and try to help the team win a Cup. Last year I lost it so this is another chance. It’s going to be hard but it’s a good chance. I have to make this not too big a distraction. I just have to use it as an advantage.”

Where that advantage might lie still remains to be seen, but according to Hossa this is where he wants to remain. He took less money to sign with Detroit in the off-season because he felt his best chance at winning a Cup was in Michigan, and talks between his agent and Wings GM Ken Holland have been put off until Detroit’s playoff run is over. Both sides have intimated desire to keep Hossa sporting the Winged Wheel, but all that takes a back seat to the task at hand.

Will Hossa’s jump from the Penguins to the Wings prove fruitful, or will it go down as one of the greatest ironies in the history of sports?

We’re all going to find out. It’s inevitable.

Paul Benvin covers the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers. Feel free to contact him with tips, video, or general dissension.I Hope you enjoyed this post. As always, leaving a comment below is both appreciated and encouraged. Thanks!

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