DETROIT (Ticker) -- Michael Leighton matched one of the greatest goaltenders in the world in the first and third periods. It was the period in between that led to his undoing.
Dominik Hasek stopped 21 shots en route to his second shutout of the season and 63rd of his career as the Detroit Red Wings posted a 3-0 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Leighton turned aside 28 shots for Chicago, including all 12 Detroit attempts in the opening period. The game was scoreless through 20 minutes but the Red Wings got goals from Pavel Datsyuk, Ray Whitney and Brendan Shanahan in the second to break open the game.
"They scored on the power play early and they scored late in the period," Chicago coach Brian Sutter said. "The pace was good in the second period. We were just fine. It was interesting because the second period was probably our best and we came out of it three goals down."
Leighton, making just his 16th career appearance, held Detroit in the check in the third but his offense managed just three shots against the veteran Red Wings' defense.
"Obviously, we weren't happy with the way the second period went and we wanted to get a goal in the first five minutes of the (third) period and try to get the momentum," Leighton said. "The second period was just a tough one for us."
Sidelined with a groin injury since October 29, Hasek posted his second shutout in his last four outings. He also blanked the Dallas Stars on October 24.
"Of course I'm happy, we got two points," Hasek said. "We got the shutout. I'm happy with everything after coming back after being out almost two weeks."
"We definitely had opportunities but we didn't get the puck up on Dominik," Chicago defenseman Bryan Berard said. "He made some key saves and we didn't bury our chances. And when we made mistakes, they capitalized on them."
Hasek admitted the groin still bothered him a bit.
"I still can feel it a little bit, but I had no problem making saves or with movement," Hasek said. "I felt good after the game."
"Dom looked really good, comfortable," Red Wings coach Dave Lewis said.
The Red Wings improved to 5-2 at home but are just 2-5-1 away from Joe Louis Arena. The win was particularly important after Detroit blew a 3-0 lead by allowing four third-period goals against Nashville on Saturday.
"We played a smart game," Hasek said. "We didn't make too many mistakes. ... In the third we played a really smart game. We didn't give them anything. They had maybe one chance in the third period."
"The only thing I said after the second period was don't take any penalties," Lewis said. "I don't think there were many words that had to be said because the guys aren't stupid. They're pretty clever people."
Veteran defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom agreed.
"We talked about not taking any bad penalties, just playing more smart than we did the other night," he said. "I thought we did that tonight. We didn't join the rush. If it wasn't there, we didn't take chances offensively. We had the third guy back and we had some good backchecking."
After Detroit failed to convert on a couple of power-play opportunities in the opening period, Datsyuk cashed in with the man advantage 92 seconds into the second.
After taking a pass from defenseman Mathieu Schneider, Datsyuk deked around Berard and beat Leighton with a wrist shot. It was Datsyuk's fifth goal and third on the power play this season.
Whitney made it 2-0 with 1:50 to go in the period. Kris Draper was stationed at the top of the left circle and found Whitney near the right post, where he tapped home his third goal of the campaign.
Shanahan's fifth goal and fourth in six games, came with 12 seconds remaining in the period. Chris Chelios faked a shot and found Shanahan between the circles, where he ripped a one-timer low along the ice and past Leighton.
