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.

May 18, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith (2) celebrates with teammates including Henrik Zetterberg (40) after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second period of game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Redemption was the front page story of today’s game…at least for one of the teams playing. The Detroit Red Wings gave as good as they got from the Chicago Blackhawks in game 1 and traded a 4-1 victory back to them at the United Center. Several players who were much maligned or just plain sucked earlier in the postseason turned in remarkable performances. Brendan Smith turned in a goal and three shots tonight after playing the goat for much of the last series, Valtteri Filppula scored a highlight-reel goal and had 18:05 of ice time in which he was -NOT- a liability unlike the past few games, and Johan Franzen finally showed some of the playoff fire he’s famous for, after coming into the game with 3 goals and a -7 rating in 8 games. The team that looked like it could have been swept after game one came out and outplayed, outpossessed, and outshot (30-20) a Chicago team that looked surprised by the intensity of Detroit’s play.

The tilt didn’t start off as well as it ended, however. Chicago came out of the gate into the first period dominating and hemming Detroit into their own zone. The Zetterberg line in particular was heavily outmatched by Chicago’s trio of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Brandon Saad. However, it was the second line of Patrick Sharp, Michal Handzus, and Patrick Kane that made Detroit pay. Brendan Smith mishandled a clearing attempt and fell over at Chicago’s blue line, which resulted in a 3-on-1 against – sigh – Kyle Quincey. Cleary attempted a backcheck and did a good job of blocking Sharp’s original pass, but the puck bounced off him and right to Handzus, who fed it over to Kane who made the score 1-0 with his first playoff goal in over two years.

Despite looking invigorated from being scored against, Detroit wasn’t able to equalize until the second period, from a deflection courtesy of Damien Brunner off a Jakub Kindl point shot; Kindl made a great play to keep that puck and send it toward the net – he’s finally starting to show the maturity and patience with the puck that everyone expected when the Wings drafted him 19th overall in 2005. Kindl wasn’t the only recent first round pick to shine in the second period though; Brendan Smith stepped in to join a rush at the end of the period and tapped in a Zetterberg pass to put Detroit ahead by 1 going into the third period.

Thankfully, Detroit’s third period fortunes seem to have turned, as they continued to dominate the game at both ends of the ice and wound up with two goals for and none against to show for it. The first one came off the stick of Johan Franzen, who showcased his beautiful snap shot with a blast that rocketed over the glove of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford. The Mule can be as dominant as any player in the league when he gets angry, so hopefully the ire of that game 1 loss doesn’t leave him for game 3 on Monday. Goal #2 came from another underachieving forward in Valtteri Filppula, who scored an amazing highlight reel goal from his knees to cap off scoring at 4-1. Good game.

But where does this leave Detroit?

The Wings have essentially nullified Chicago’s home ice advantage by defeating them so thoroughly at the United Center, but they absolutely NEED to win both games at home if they want to take this series. I highly doubt Chicago will play this badly again at home, so it’s imperative that Detroit takes advantage of being at home while they still can. Tonight was a big step though, as the team showed that they can stick with and dominate the apparently-superior Hawks.

Thanks for reading, and go Wings! Follow me on twitter: @dzkefalas