NHL PLAYOFFS : Blackhawk Replay Beats Red Wings

Practice made perfect for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Jocelyn Lemieux scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:27 left on a play the Blackhawks refined earlier in the day and Chicago beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1, in the first game of the Norris Division finals.

“(Associate coach Darryl Sutter) remembered that we got an overtime goal by Duane Sutter about three years ago in Detroit on that play,” Chicago Coach Mike Keenan said. “It was something we practiced this morning.”

Lemieux beat goalie Tim Cheveldae to the short side with a slap shot from the left faceoff dot for his third goal of the playoffs. Brent Sutter set up the play with a perfect dump-in that caromed off the end boards, right to Lemieux.

“It was a great dump-in,” Lemieux said. “The puck came out flat. The only thing I thought about was don’t get a strike (miss the puck). We do that in practice. Every building is different. When you get your chances, you have to bear down.

“It was a great effort by Brent to make the puck come out like that.”

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Monday night at Joe Louis Arena. The series will shift to Chicago Stadium for Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday nights.

The Red Wings, who appeared a step slow after overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate Minnesota during the first round, were outshot, 29-24, by the Blackhawks, who were 1-5-2 against the Red Wings during the regular season and were winless in four visits to Detroit.

“We looked tired,” Detroit Coach Bryan Murray said. “We stayed in the game only because of Cheveldae. We didn’t play with much drive.

“Chicago played smart. They held us up, just like Minnesota did. But we just didn’t play with much energy. It was an emotional thing.”

Chicago had not played since eliminating St. Louis in six games Tuesday.

“We certainly felt it had to be an advantage for us,” Keenan said. “ . . . It had to have an effect on them. If it didn’t, they’re an exceptional team.”

After a scoreless first period, during which there were only 13 shots on goal, the teams exchanged power play goals in the second period.

“I thought their best period was the first period,” Chicago’s Steve Smith said. “(Goaltender) Eddie (Belfour) had to come up big for us.”

Stephane Matteau scored for Chicago at 5:30 of the second period while Steve Chiasson was off the ice for tripping. Matteau got the loose puck past Cheveldae after Brian Noonan’s shot bounced off the goalie’s pads.

Yves Racine made the score 1-1 at 16:24, with five seconds left on Igor Kravchuk’s penalty for holding Detroit’s Steve Yzerman.