Colin Fraser
Blackhawks Lose 3-2 to Red Wings, Settle for #2 Seed in West
Monday, April 12th, 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Blackhawks had an opportunity to secure home field throughout the entire Western Conference playoffs, but a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at the United Center on Sunday put an end to those hopes. Dave Bolland and Colin Fraser scored the Blackhawks only goals, while Antti Niemi saved 18 of 21 shots on goal by the Red Wings. The Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings 29-21, but they couldn’t convert often enough.
As the #2 seed, the Blackhawks will square off against division-rival Nashville Predators. The Predators racked up 100 points in 2010, winning a lot of close games. The Predators have a 0-goal differential – giving up 225 goals, while scoring 225 goals. The Hawks, on the other hand, had a +63 goal differential and they won the season series against the Predators 4-2.
But since the Predators play a patient, defense-oriented style of hockey, so it should be a hard-fought series. The 2 teams never combined to score more than 5 goals in any of their games. It will be imperative for the Hawks to keep up the attack and apply constant pressure on the offensive end. I see the Predators taking one or 2 games in the series, but this one should be over pretty quickly in favor of the Blackhawks. The series opens this weekend at the United Center with 7:30PM CST time starts on both Friday and Sunday nights. Get ready for some sweet playoff hockey action…
Blackhawks Back on Track – 4th Win in Row
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | 1 Comment
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Tuesday night for their 4th straight win. After a rough stretch where the club won only 6 games in the month of March, they are now 3-0 in the month of April behind the hot goal-tending of Antti Niemi. The Blackhawks still trail the San JOse Sharks by 2 points for the top seed in the Western Conference, but they control their own destiny. If the Blackhawks win out (against the St. Louis Blue, Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings), they would finish with 112 points and earn the top spot over the Sharks because they would have more regular season wins than the Sharks. That scenario would also mean that the Hawks would probably not be facing the Red Wings – their bitter Central Division rivals and one of the hottest teams in all of hockey right now – in the 1st round of the playoffs. And that would be a good thing – no one wants to face the red-hot Red Wings right now.
In Tuesday night’s win in Dallas, Colin Fraser scored his 3rd and 4th goals of the season to lead the Hawks. Marian Hossa (24), Jonathan Toews (24) and Patrick Kane (30) each tallied goals as well. Niemi stopped 26 of 28 Stars’ shots on goal and looks oh so comfortable in front of the net right now. Niemi has started each of the Hawks last 4 wins and last night was the 1st night that he allowed more than 1 goal. Unbelievable…
Let’s hope Niemi keeps up his stellar play and that the Hawks offense keeps firing on all cylinders as the Blackhawks finish off a fine season for the Chicago squad…
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