Red Wings Blanked by Blackhawks Again

For the second consecutive game the Detroit Red Wings were shutout by the Chicago Blackhawks. After suffering a 3-0 defeat on the road on Sunday, the Red Wings returned to Joe Louis Arena to drop an identically-scored rematch Wednesday night.

Antti Niemi stopped 33 shots en route to the shutout after Cristobal Huet backstopped the Blackhawks on Sunday.

Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago.

Kane opened the scoring with a power play goal 30 seconds into the third period, snapping a shot from the left faceoff circle past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard through a screen by Troy Brouwer.

Sharp banged a loose puck off of Detroit’s Drew Miller during a goal-mouth scramble to put the Blackhawks up by a pair at 3:47 of the third.

Toews wrapped up the scoring with 1:18 left in the game, beating Howard on a shot from the slot that just trickled through.

Howard finished the night with 28 saves on 31 shots.

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In addition to their numerous injuries, Detroit played without defenseman Brian Rafalski, who missed the game with the flu. Jakub Kindl was called up from the Grand Rapids Griffins to take his spot in the lineup.