Murray: Lidstrom keeping Kane bottled up
Troy Murray, who spent 12 years of a 15-year career with the Blackhawks and now is the team's radio color analyst, offers his perspective on the Blackhawks-Red Wings series.
Q: How did Detroit limit Patrick Kane to no shots on goal in Game 1?
Murray: With Kane, Detroit had great backside pressure. They didn't give him any opportunities to make lateral moves. Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is one of the best in the league at forcing players to the outside, and as soon as Kane made that outside move he was shadowed at the blue line by Lidstrom.
And as soon as he made that move there always was a back-checker coming from behind, so basically it always was a 2-on-1 situation with no open space.
Q: How can the Hawks get around that?
Murray: You have to sense what's going on there, and if you do have players there and you don't have time to make a move, that puck has to go in deep.
Q: It didn't look like the Hawks had any sort of a speed advantage over Detroit.
Murray: I don't know who expected the Red Wings to be the slower team.
Against Detroit you have to have a sense of urgency any time you have the puck - or if you don't have the puck. There's no time for the Blackhawks - if there's a turnover or a play that develops - to stand and analyze what's going on and then start skating.
What you have to do is as soon as there is a turnover or something, you have to start skating first and then analyze what you have to do. It's a huge difference.
Q: How much of a step up in class is Detroit from Vancouver?
Murray: These are the Stanley Cup champs, and they're the champs for a reason. There is another level there.
You can be close, but close isn't going to cut it. You had opportunities in Game 1 to come up and make a difference - you tied it at 2-2 because you had great goaltending in the second period.
But the Red Wings were the team that found the next gear and scored some quick goals and, bang, it's over.
It's there, it's attainable, but there is another level compared to Vancouver and Calgary.
Q: Can the Hawks hang with these guys?
Murray: I think so. I expect they'll be a lot better tonight than Game 1, without a doubt. But I also expect the Red Wings to be better than they were.
It's one game. Put that one game behind you. It's not a do-or-die situation, but how you respond and how you react in Game 2 is critical. You have to learn from your mistakes. They have to take it to a new level in Game 2.
&bull Mike Spellman interviews Troy Murray before each playoff game. Murray is in his sixth season as color analyst for Blackhawks radio broadcasts on WGN 720-AM.