It’s Win or Go Home for a Third and Final Time

Rebecca Cook/Reuters

A team meeting during Game 6 conducted by the Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was credited for Chicago being alive for a Game 7.

The post-mortems were starting to take shape a few days ago for the N.H.L.’s top team, the Chicago Blackhawks, who were down, 3-1, in their series with the Detroit Red Wings.

Pause the grim epitaphs, for now. The Blackhawks have made a dramatic turnaround to force a Game 7 on Wednesday in Chicago. The Blackhawks pushed their Western Conference semifinal to one last game, thanks to a 4-3 win in Monday’s Game 6 in Detroit.

The Blackhawks have been frustrating and inconsistent in this series against the seventh-seeded Red Wings, which they entered with momentum as the conference’s top seed.

“We feel like we deserve to be where we are,” the Blackhawks’ captain, Jonathan Toews, said Tuesday. “Something about playing a Game 7, you want to go out there and feel like every shift, every chance you get there might be an opportunity to change the game in favor of your team.

“I mean, to look at the attitude we’ve had over the last couple of games and where we were just a few days, it’s a huge credit to the guys for keeping their heads up and staying loose and being positive,” he said. “We felt like we’d worked really hard but nothing seemed to go our way those first four games, and I think for anybody, I don’t want to say it’s easy to feel sorry for yourself, but it’s easy to get down on yourself a little bit, and we didn’t do that at all.”

The winner-take-all Game 7 is a fitting conclusion to the long-running Wings-Blackhawks playoff rivalry in the Western Conference. The Red Wings are moving to the East next season, while Chicago will remain in the West, changing any future meetings to a Stanley Cup finals encounter.

This is only the second time in Blackhawks history, which dates back to the founding of the N.H.L. in 1926, that they have forced a Game 7 after trailing, 3-1. The first time was in 2011, when the Blackhawks recovered against the Canucks, only to lose Game 7 in overtime, 2-1, in Vancouver.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 48 teams have recovered from a 3-1 series deficit, and half went on to win Game 7.

Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock put a positive spin on having a Game 7 with the Blackhawks, despite his team’s deflating two-game slide.

“If I would’ve told Detroit and Michigan we would play in Chicago in Game 7, I think everybody would be excited about that, “ Babcock said. “I love Game 7s. We’ve got a chance to push them out of the playoffs. It should be a lot of fun.”

The Blackhawks’ recovery reflects what made them the top team in the regular season: stars such as Toews and Marian Hossa regained their scoring touches, Corey Crawford has been mostly steady in goal and support players likes Bryan Bickell, Michal Handzus and Michael Frolik have provided timely help.

In a sweeping change of momentum, the Red Wings gave up three goals in the third period of Game 6.

The third period has been a point of weakness for the Red Wings; they have allowed 20 goals through 13 playoff games. And the Blackhawks had not shown an ability to win games in the third during this playoff run. Game 6 was their first win, in four games, when trailing entering the final period.

“They’re a good team; let’s get the facts straight,” Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard said. “They weren’t going to go away quietly. But now it’s down to one game. Game 7, you dream about winning these when you’re a kid.

“We’ve already played in one. We get a chance to play in another.”

The Blackhawks’ left winger Bickell has been a particularly potent force, providing a physical presence that agitates the Red Wings as well as scoring. He has five goals in the playoffs and has been a tough presence for the Red Wings to deal with.

“He’s strong and tough, and he is always working,” said Handzus, who tied Game 6 at 2-2 early in the third period. “That’s what we do when we are good. Everybody is doing that. We get help from everybody.”

Frolik supplied the game-winner off a third-period penalty shot, flicking a backhand over Howard’s left shoulder, for a 4-2 lead.

“I think the room still always believed in the big picture, and we knew it was possible for us to come back,” Frolik said. “We still believe in each other, and I think we show good character now. We’ve tied up this series, now we have to prepare for a huge game at home.”