Wings finish off Hawks in overtime

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DETROIT — Playing without stars Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, the Detroit Red Wings needed help from two unheralded players to reach their second straight Stanley Cup final.

Darren Helm scored in 3:58 into overtime and Dan Cleary had a third-period goal as the Red Wings eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 2-1 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference final Wednesday night.

Khabibulin, Havlat hurting for ‘Hawks

CHICAGO — A jarring hit from Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall, one that flattened Chicago’s Martin Havlat, has put a new spin on the Western Conference finals.

It most likely knocked Havlat, the Blackhawks’ points leader, out for Sunday’s Game 4 and spiked emotions between the old Original Six rivals.

“Marty didn’t have the puck,” Chicago defenceman Brian Campbell said Saturday. “If he hit Marty and hit him clean, that’s fine. That

Short-handed Wings bury Hawks

CHICAGO — Marian Hossa’s short-handed goal got the short-handed Detroit Red Wings started Sunday.

And once they got rolling, the defending champions overpowered the frustrated Chicago Blackhawks and moved within one win of a return trip to the Stanley Cup final.

With injured stars Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk sidelined, Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg had two goals each, sending the Red Wings to a convincing 6-1 victory

‘Hawks activate Khabibulin from IR

Khabibulin, who has been sidelined by a groin injury since he was hurt Feb. 11, leads the Blackhawks with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage and has a 17-5-5 record in 29 games.

Khabibulin needs three wins for his 10th 20-victory season. He is 291-264-58 in 13 NHL seasons. He has shared playing time this season with Cristobal Huet.

Niemi made his NHL debut in three appearances with the Blackhawks since

‘Hawks activate Khabibulin off IR

Khabibulin, who has notched four wins in his last five appearances, leads the Blackhawks with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage while accruing a 17-5-5 mark in 29 games. The 36-year-old netminder last appeared on Feb. 11, when he notched 36 saves on 37 shots in Chicago’s 3-1 win at the Atlanta Thrashers. He has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 18 of his 29 appearances this season.

The Sverdlovsk,

‘Hawks & Habs dominate AS rosters

NEW YORK — Only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin prevented the Montreal Canadiens from an all-star sweep.

The NHL announced the starting lineups Saturday for the mid-season classic, and the host Canadiens filled four of the six slots for the Eastern Conference.

Crosby and Malkin, teammates and linemates with the defending East champion Pittsburgh Penguins, both broke the record for the most votes and claimed two

‘Hawks duo earning all-star respect

NEW YORK — Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews own comfortable leads in voting for the NHL all-star game while races for the other Western Conference starting spots remain open.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, Kane led all Western Conference players with 595,351 votes, followed by Toews’ 500,214.

Anaheim Ducks centre Ryan Getzlaf held the third starting forward spot with 402,369 votes, but

First with ‘Hawks: Huet blanks Sens

CHICAGO — Cristobal Huet stopped 23 shots to earn his first shutout with Chicago and Patrick Kane scored an early goal as the Blackhawks beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Wednesday night.

It was Huet’s first NHL shutout since March 29 against Florida when he was with Washington. He signed a four-year deal with Chicago as a free agent during the off-season.

Kane scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the circle,

Quenneville loses debut as ‘Hawks coach

ST. LOUIS — Blues rookie T.J. Oshie scored the winning shootout goal, and St. Louis ruined the debut of Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville with a 4-3 victory Saturday night.

With St. Louis trailing 3-2 late in the third period, Andy McDonald tied it with just 13.9 seconds left. He took a pass from Paul Kariya and beat Nikolai Khabibulin for his first goal of the season.

Patrick Kane scored two goals and added an assist