Can the Blackhawks learn their lessons one game earlier than the Penguins did a year ago?

The Red Wings drew first blood in the Western Conference finals in Detroit on Sunday afternoon, when they schooled the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, and one word was heard more then the rest afterward – experience.

If the scenario sounds familiar to the Penguins and their fans, then it should. That was much the same story line early in the Stanley Cup finals a year ago, when it took the Penguins until Game 3 to comprehend the challenge that confronted them.

By that time, they trailed 2-0 in the series, a deficit that was too much for a young team to overcome.

Firepower isn’t the issue here. The Blackhawks have enough to match the Red Wings in a best-of-seven series. In terms of postseason know-how, however, the two teams don’t reside in the same state much less zip code.

In Game 1, the Red Wings active roster totaled more than 1,500 games of postseason experience, more than three times that of their opponents.

The Blackhawks did some things well in the opener. They got off to a fast start, which was a top priority after their