May 23, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings right wing Daniel Cleary (11) receives congratulations from center Henrik Zetterberg (40) and center Valtteri Filppula (51) after scoring in the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks in game four of the second round for the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into Game 4 Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena, it was mentioned by more than one media outlet that the Chicago Blackhawks had not lost three consecutive games in 2013. That meant that to seize control of their second round series and take a 3-1 lead, the Detroit Red Wings were going to have to take their rivals into unfamiliar territory.

Consider the series officially off the map and out of GPS contact. The Red Wings got big plays from suspects both usual (Jimmy Howard) and unusual (Jakub Kindl and Dan Cleary) as they put the top-seeded Blackhawks on the brink of elimination with a 2-0 victory.

Fittingly, Detroit took the lead by doing something else no one had seen in a while: scoring a power play goal against Chicago. The Blackhawks killed off 29 straight opposing power plays during these playoffs, including the first one in Game 4.

But with Hawks captain Jonathan Toews in the box serving his second of three consecutive minor penalties, the Wings finally got their breakthrough. Kindl fired a shot through a screen by Justin Abdelkader that beat Corey Crawford with just one second left in the man advantage at the 10:03 mark of the second period.

That it had made it to that point scoreless was due again in large part to Howard and Crawford. The teams combined for 24 shots in the first 20 minutes (14 by Chicago) but couldn’t solve two very locked-in goalies despite numerous turnovers. The Blackhawks did find the post on several occasions, and tenacious back-checking helped nullify chances for breakaways both ways.

The visitors got an excellent chance to find an equalizer with 4:45 left in regulation when Brandon Saad drew a hooking call on Kindl. Yet the Hawks have also been poor with the man advantage in the series (one goal in four games), and the Wings’ penalty killers held them without a shot.

Crawford headed to the bench with roughly 1:25 left, but Chicago couldn’t manage to sustain much pressure with the extra skater. After a stretch pass was deflected at the Detroit blue line, the much maligned Cleary put the game away, scoring the empty-netter with 39 seconds remaining.

No points from Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg turned out to be no problem for the Red Wings, who are now one win away from upending the two top seeds in the West. It’s tough to imagine where they’d be without Howard, looking every bit the part of a Conn Smythe candidate in making 28 saves. He made the routine saves without giving up rebounds, and his pad save on Dave Bolland on a two-on-one in the third period may have been the game-saver.

For Chicago, who entered the playoffs experiencing very little adversity during the regular season, Game 5 on Saturday night is shockingly a win or go home situation. For Detroit, it’s the first of three chances to turn conventional wisdom completely on its head.

The game was over when…

The power play finally bore fruit. Yes, it’s obvious since Kindl’s goal was the game-winner, but not only had the Red Wings not scored with the man advantage in the series, they hadn’t really even generated many great scoring chances. The goal came courtesy of a superb Abdelkader screen, something that has been a consistent theme in this round.

The unsung Red Wings hero was…

Valtteri Filppula, and for his defense, not for his offense. Though he did record an assist on Cleary’s goal, Filppula showed some real determination by hustling the whole game to get back and help out the D. That’s not usually what you expect from him, but it was absolutely necessary in such a tight, low-scoring affair.

May 20, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) makes a save on a shot by Detroit Red Wings center Damien Brunner (24) in the third period in game three of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

After earning a split in Chicago, the Detroit Red Wings had to feel they served notice that the top-seeded Blackhawks had a series on their hands. But after a testy Game 3 victory back home, it’s starting to feel like the Wings have put even more pressure on the team that was the NHL’s best during the regular season.

Two goals in a 31-second span of the second period were enough for Detroit thanks to a 40-save performance from Jimmy Howard, and Pavel Datsyuk added a spectacular insurance goal as the Red Wings took a 2-1 series lead with a 3-1 win at Joe Louis Arena. The game had more than its share of talking points and will set up what should be an even more intense Game 4 on Thursday night.

Howard was the story early on, as the Blackhawks proved they wanted to put a lackluster Game 2 performance behind them by out-shooting the hosts 15-9 in the opening frame. Detroit survived two Chicago power plays, and the Hawks continued their playoff-long shorthanded dominance by killing off one of their own.

The Blackhawks continued to pile on the pressure after the first break, but it was the Red Wings who struck first. After a defensive zone faceoff win by Joakim Andersson, Damien Brunner chipped a pass that hit Gustav Nyquist in stride. Nyquist made a nifty right-to-left move to lose Brent Seabrook, then out-waited Corey Crawford to fire his second goal of the playoffs into an unguarded net.

The very next shift provided the eventual game-winner. Chicago’s Michal Rozsival turned the puck over in his own end, allowing Patrick Eaves to get several chances from in close. Crawford stopped a pair of shots, but Drew Miller appeared just before the puck was cleared and jammed home a rebound to put Detroit up 2-0.

Both teams ended up with cause for complaint in a wild third period. A check from behind by Niklas Hjalmarsson left Johan Franzen crumpled in back of the Chicago net, but no call was forthcoming. That allowed Duncan Keith to flip a pass that bounced onto the stick of Patrick Kane in back of the Detroit defense, and he beat Howard five-hole to pull his team to within one goal with 15:25 to play.

It appeared Viktor Stalberg tied things up a minute later by throwing the puck at net and seeing it bounce in off of traffic, but the ref immediately waived it off, citing goaltender interference on Andrew Shaw. That questionable call – replays seemed to reveal that Howard was able to make an initial save and that Shaw didn’t touch him – turned devastating for the Hawks at the 6:46 mark, when Datsyuk unleashed a laser of a wrist shot that whizzed past Crawford up high to seal up the victory.

The closing moments did nothing to deter thoughts of a chippy Game 4, as Bryan Bickell took a late penalty and Shaw buried Carlo Colaiacovo with a clean but massive hit (but then was promptly shown the door with a 10-minute misconduct). Chicago coach Joel Quenneville deflected questions about a possible goaltending change to Ray Emery after the game, simply saying that Crawford was fine.

Much of the post-game talk centered around the idea that the Red Wings haven’t been in the underdog role for a long time. That may be true, but a Game 4 victory would put them up 3-1 and flip the series completely on its head.

The three-night wait to see if they can do it is going to be a long one…

The game was over when…

The Shaw call was followed by the Datsyuk goal. Whether you agree with the goaltender interference or not, you can’t deny that having the tying goal waived off took a lot of wind out of the Blackhawks’ sails. And the Magic Man showed again why even though he doesn’t put up gaudy goal-scoring numbers, he’s so dangerous with the puck on his stick. It was the second time this postseason that he’s scored a goal that was in and out of the net so fast you weren’t sure what happened.

The unsung Red Wings hero was… 

It was shaping up to be Miller thanks to his excellent penalty killing work, but he removed himself from consideration when he netted the game-winner. We’ll give the nod to Cory Emmerton in his place, as he played a more understated role in that second goal and also logged plenty of PK time. Often he came on for Datsyuk immediately after a faceoff win and clear, which is definitely thankless but important work.