(My Sportsbook) - Jocelyn Thibault and the Chicago Blackhawks continued their road dominance over the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, as they improved to 6-0-3 in the last nine meetings at Joe Louis Arena.

Thibault was sensational as he stopped 18 shots en route to his second shutout of the season to help Chicago claim the 2-0 triumph.

"We're scared when we come here," said Thibault of playing in the Motor City. "It's not that we're scared that we'll get killed, but we know if we don't play our best game, they can beat us."

No save was any bigger than the one Thibault made on Sergei Fedorov with just over a minute and a half left in the game and the Hawks up by one goal. Fedorov, all alone in the crease, took a pass from Pavel Datsyuk, but was stoned by Thibault at point-blank range with a chest save.

"I just tried to hold my ground and let him beat me with a good shot," said Thibault, who turned away five Fedorov shots.

Newly acquired Andrei Nikolishin then sealed the win with his first goal in a Chicago sweater, and the Blackhawks had their first road victory of the season (1-2-1-0).

"If you're not prepared to play here, there's something wrong with you," Hawks coach Brian Sutter said. "Everybody picked their game up, and playing the Stanley Cup champions meant a little more."

Chicago, which last lost in Motown on April 2, 1999, was also the last team to shut the Red Wings out at home, when Thibault blanked them on December 17, 2001, coincidentally by a 2-0 margin.

The Blackhawks, who have now won 40 straight games when leading after two periods, had been outscored 9-2 in their previous two tilts, a 5-1 loss to the Devils and a 4-1 setback to the Edmonton Oilers.

"We weren't happy with our last couple games," Sutter added. "We got a real gutsy effort from a pile of people."

All the news was not good, though, as defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev, the best shot-blocker in the NHL a year ago, had to be helped off the ice after a Brett Hull shot from point-blank range hit him in the right ankle.

Karpovtsev, who will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, missed 16 games last season with a series of injuries -- sprained ankle, sprained knee, pulled groin, bruised ribs and arthroscopic knee surgery.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Hawks will return home on Thursday to face the Atlanta Thrashers before embarking on a two-game road trip that includes stops in Tampa and South Florida.