CHICAGO -- Maybe it was the extra rest, or another raucous crowd at the United Center. Maybe it was just the resumption of one of the NHLs biggest rivalries. Whatever it was, the Chicago Blackhawks finally found that extra gear they talked about for days. Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 20 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the opener of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night. "Much better from our prior series," coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought what were talking about in our team game was in place. Had some pace, had some speed, zone time, and I thought everybody contributed." In the wake of Chicagos five-game victory over Minnesota in the first round, Quenneville talked about a higher level of intensity, and each of his biggest stars echoed his comments. The response was a dominant final two periods in the Blackhawks first game in the Western Conference semifinals since they won the Stanley Cup in 2010. Marian Hossa had the opening goal in the first, and Patrick Sharp finished with an empty-netter and two assists to give him nine points in the post-season. "I thought it was our best game of the playoffs, no question," Sharp said. Jimmy Howard had 38 stops in a terrific performance, but Detroit still lost to rival Chicago for the eighth straight time dating to last season. "I think in the first it was pretty even, but then I think in the second and third they looked like they had a little more energy than we did," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "Its going to be nice to have a day off tomorrow and practice and then looking forward to Game 2." The series resumes on Saturday afternoon at the United Center. The 75th all-time playoff game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings was tied at 1 after two periods, and Howard made a great stop on a breakaway by Dave Bolland 4 1/2 minutes into the third. Chicago kept working and went in front to stay on a heady play by Oduya. He drifted in from the point and sent Sharps pass past Howard on the glove side with 12 minutes left. "Getting the win is the only thing that actually matters," Oduya said. "Like I said, anyone could have scored that goal at that point. We had a lot of chances and Im lucky I got it in there." Kruger then jumped on a loose puck and sent a backhander into the upper right corner to make it 3-1. That was more than enough for Crawford, who caught a break when Damien Brunners rebound attempt went off the crossbar and straight down before Brent Seabrook swept it away with about three minutes left. The opener of the 16th playoff series between the Original Six teams was the first game for Chicago since it eliminated Minnesota last Thursday. Detroit closed out Anaheim with a 3-2 win in Game 7 on Sunday night, taking the final two games of the series against the second-seeded Ducks. Despite the long break, there was no sign of rust for the Blackhawks. The Red Wings skated right with Chicago at the start, but they couldnt keep up at the end of the game and coach Mike Babcock said they were looking forward to a day off. "Were not trying to take anything away from them," he said. "They were better than us. The score tonight was more than fair as far as Im concerned. They were better." The Blackhawks struck first in the first playoff game between the teams since Detroit won the 2009 Western Conference final. With Gustav Nyquist in the box for hooking, Sharp forced a turnover along the boards and Jonathan Toews sent the puck to Hossa, who one-timed it past Howard at 9:03. Detroit needed less than two minutes to respond, tying it when Brunner poked in a rebound for his third career playoff goal. The rookie centre also contributed three assists in the first round against the Ducks. The Blackhawks killed off two power plays created by penalties on Andrew Shaw. They killed off another one when Nick Leddy was sent off for delay of game in the second period, making them a perfect 20 for 20 on the penalty kill in the post-season and sinking Detroit to 1 for 18 on power plays against Chicago, including the regular season. "We know that were a much better team than this," Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall said. "The second and third period were not nearly good enough. We know were better than this, so we have to find to get better here for Game 2." NOTES: It was the 800th game between the teams. ... Detroit F Justin Abdelkader was shaken up after he collided with Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival in the first period. He was helped to the bench after a few moments down on the ice, but eventually returned to the game. ... Blackhawks F Viktor Stalberg was a healthy scratch. Quenneville said it was a "coachs decision" and Stalberg could get back on the ice at any point. ... Toews and Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings joined Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins as finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHLs best defensive forward. ... Chicago won eight of the previous 15 playoff series against Detroit. Wholesale Adidas Soccer Jerseys . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Cheap Nike Soccer Jerseys . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysbywholesale.com/ . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. China Soccer Jerseys . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. CLEVELAND -- Their quarterbacks falling fast, the Browns needed to find a veteran with experience.Charlie Whitehurst has come to their rescue.Cleveland has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the free agent quarterback who worked out for the Browns on Monday, a day after Josh McCown went down with an injured left shoulder in the home opener.McCowns injury came a week after Robert Griffin III suffered a broken bone in his left shoulder in the season opener and will miss at least seven more games.Browns coach Hue Jackson is expected to start rookie Cody Kessler this week at Miami, but he now has another option in the 34-year-old Whitehurst, who spent last season with Tennessee and Indianapolis. He played in four games for the Colts before being placed on injured reserve.With the Colts, he worked wiith Browns offensive assistant Pep Hamilton and their relationship likely influenced the decision by Clevelands front office to sign him.dddddddddddd backup most of his career, Whitehurst has gone 2-7 in nine career NFL starts. He made five starts for the Titans in 2014 and was involved in the biggest comeback in Browns history.Whitehurst replaced an injured Jake Locker and threw two touchdown passes as Tennessee built a 28-3 lead. But the Browns stormed back behind quarterback Brian Hoyer to win 29-28.The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Whitehurst was drafted in the third round by San Diego in 2006. 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