NHL
Blackhawks Stay Tough At Home, Beat Sabres 4-1
Friday, January 16th, 2009 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
After losing the final 2 games of their recent 3-game road trip, the Chicago Blackhawks needed some good ‘ol home cookin’ to get back on track. Two home games at the United Center was just what the doctor ordered.
On Sunday night, the Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1, scoring a goal in each period. Dustin Byfuglien scored his 9th goal of the season in the 1st period to give the Blackhawks and early 1-0 lead. After the Predators tied the game, Dave Bolland’s 8th goal of the season gave the Blackhawks the lead for good in the 2nd period. Martin Havlat’s empty netter with 10 seconds left in the game (his 12th goal of the season) iced the victory for the Blackhawks. Nikolai Khabibulin saved 26 of 27 shots on goal for his 13th win of the NHL season.
On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1. After the Sabres took an early 1-0 lead midway through the 1st period, the Blackhawks went on the offensive scoring the game’s final 4 goals. Patrick Sharp scored his 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 1 in the 1st period. Right before the end of the 1st period Jonathan Toews’ 12th goal of the season gave the Blackhawks the lead for good. The Blackhawks were able to increase the lead to 3-1 on Martin Havlat’s 13th goal of the season just 5 minutes into the 2nd period. James Wisniewski finished off the scoring with his 1st goal of the NHL season just 17 seconds into the 3rd period. Cristobal Huet saved 22 of 23 shots on goal and improved his record to 11-7-3 on the season.
Of more important impact, however, the Blackhawks are concerned with the injury to Duncan Kieth – suffered in the 2nd period after an open-ice hit to his shoulder and head by the Sabres’ Drew Stafford. Keith is the anchor of the Blackhawks improved defense. Keith leads the team averaging 26 minutes of ice time and he has the Blackhawks best plus/minus ratio with a plus-23. The Blackhawks have not released on update on his status.
The Blackhawks are now 24-10-7 and have 55 points. They have continued to distance themselves from the #5 seed Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks, whom they now lead by 56 points each. They also have 4 games in-hand against each team, so the Blackhawks are in great shape to control their destiny with the 4th seed in the Western Conference.
Next up for the Blackhawks is an important inter-conference battle with the New York Rangers of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have rattled off 2 wins in a row to move 1 point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have 56 points and currently hold the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference. The 2 teams will battle on Friday night at the United Center.
NHL Scores Friday
Saturday, January 10th, 2009 | NHL | No Comments
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Blackhawks Cruise Past Coyotes 6-0
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
After 2 straight demoralizing losses to the Detroit Red Wings, the Blackhawks have regrouped in excellent fashion to win back-to-back games and push their record back up to 22-8-7. The Blackhawks now have 51 points, good for 4th place in the NHL’s Western Conference. The Blackhawks are 4 points ahead of the next 2 closest teams – Vancouver and Anaheim – and they also have 4 games in hand against each of those teams. So they are sitting in very good shape as we near the halfway point of the 2008-9 NHL season.
Four different Blackhawks players scored goals in the 1st period on Tuesday night – Adam Burish, Kris Versteeg (his 13th on the season), Colin Fraser and Ben Eager. Jonathan Toews scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season in the 2nd and 3rd periods to round out the scoring. The offensive barage left the Coyotes down on their knees begging for mercy.
Cristobal Huet saved all 22 Coyotes shots on goal and moved to 10-6-3 on the season. He has lowered his goals against average to 2.41 and he was won 6 of his last 7 starts.
The Blackhawks continue on the road with games at Colorado on Thursday night and at Nashville on Saturday night.
Blackhawks Win 4th in a Row, Top Columbus 3-1
Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL | No Comments
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Sunday night, increasing their current win streak to 4 games. After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Blackhawks tied the game with 1 second left in the 2nd period on Patrick Sharp’s power play goal – his 17th goal of the season. The Blackhawks went ahead for good midway through the 3rd period on Martin Havlat’s 8th goal of the season. An empty netter by Brent Seabrook with 22 seconds left in the game finished off the scoring.
Cristobal Huet saved 31 of 32 Blue Jackets shots and has emerged as a #1 goalie once again. Ever since Nikolai Khabibulin’s injury at the end of November, Huet has gained more playing time and has lived up to the task. He has won his last 3 starts in a row, allowing just a total of 2 goals during that stretch. He is now 7-5-3 on the season.
The Blackhawks now have 37 points, which puts them in a tie for the 4th seed in the NHL’s Western Conference with the Anaheim Ducks. The team is 15-6-7 on the season and they’re on a 4-game winning streak. They are almost unbeatable at home – going 10-1-4 at the United Center – as they have sold out all 15 home games during the 2008-9 NHL season.
Blackhawks Blank Senators 2-0
Thursday, December 11th, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Wednesday night. The game was not expected to be a shootout as the Senators have scored an NHL-low 63 goals this season and had given up only 63 goals entering the game, 1 of only 6 teams to have allowed fewer than 70 games. And the result lived up to the pre-game analysis. The Blackhawks scored on a 1st period power play goal by Patrick Kane, just 5 minutes into the game. The game stayed at 1-0 the rest of the way until the Blackhawks added an empty net goal by Troy Brouwer with less than a minute to play. Blackhawks Goalie Cristobal Huet picked up his 1st shutout this season. He stopped 23 shots on goal and improved to 6-5-3 on the season.
The Blackhawks are now 13-6-7 and have 33 points, good for the 6th seed in the NHL’s Western Conference. The Blackhawks play in Denver on Friday night and then return home for a game against the Blue Jackets on Sunday night. After that, they embark on a 3-game west coast road trip next week – facing the Oilers, Flames and Canucks. It will be important for the Blackhawks to play well against Colorado and Columbus, as Calgary and Vancouver each have more points than Chicago.
Avery out 6 games
Monday, December 8th, 2008 | NHL | No Comments
Gary Bettman handed down his ruling today and Sean Avery is suspended for six games. Avery has already been out two games after making inappropriate comments, not pertaining to the game. Avery used a crude expression in Calgary during a interview to reports to describes his former girlfriend that is now dating other hockey players. His comments appeared to be directed at Flames defense man Dion Phaneuf who is now dating his ex Elisha Cuthbert. Avery was quoted calling Elisha his “sloppy seconds.” and this got him into hot water with the NHL.
Blackhawks End Circus Road Trip on Down Note
Monday, December 1st, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
After a promising 3-0 start to the annual “Circus Road Trip”, the Blackhawks ended up losing the last 3 games of the road trip to finish at an even .500.
On Friday, the Ducks blanked the Blackhawks 1-0 – the 1st shutout suffered by the Blackhawks all season long. Despite out-shooting the Ducks 26-21, the Blackhawks never found the net, and they wasted a good outing by Cristobal Huet. Huet has been starting in goal for the Blackhawks ever since Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a lower-body injury in the Blackhawks loss to the San Jose Sharks a few days earlier. Huet saved all but 1 shot by the Ducks, as Ryan Getzlaf’s 9th goal of the season just 5 minutes into the 2nd period ended up being the game-winner for the Ducks. Ducks’ Goalie Jonas Hiller is 4-0 in his last 6 games and he saved all 26 Blackhawks’ shots. During that 6-game span, Hiller has saved 131 of 138 shots faced.
On Saturday, the Blackhawks fell behind the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 early in the 1st period. Later in the period, Patrick Sharp tied the game at 1 with his 13th goal of the season and Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks their first lead of the game with his 12th goal of the NHL season. It went all downhill from there. The Kings tied the game in the 2nd period and then put on an offensive barrage in the 3rd period, scoring 3 goals to put the game away. The Blackhawks ended up losing 5-2.
Cristobal Huet did not fare so well in this game for the Blackhawks. He saved 23 of 27 shots, but is only 3-4-2 on the season.
Seven of the last 9 games for the Blackhawks have been 1- goal games. The Blackhawks have won only 2 of those 9 games. Blackhawks fines were ecstatic about the 3-0 start to the Circus Road Trip, but have to be disappointed with the way the Blackhawks finished off the trip. I know that the Sharks are probably the NHL’s best team, and the Ducks are one of the elite teams in the NHL too, but getting routed by the Kings (a team with less points than the Blackhawks) was frustrating for me to watch. The Blackhawks are 10-6-6 on the NHL season and they have 26 points – good for 7th place in the NHL’s Western Conference. 3 of the Hawks next 5 games are at home, so let’s hope they can get off to a good start with a win over the Ducks on Wednesday night at the United Center.
Sharks Top Blackhawks 3-2 in OT
Friday, November 28th, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
The San Jose Sharks topped the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night in San Jose. The Sharks improved to 12-0-1 at home and an amazing 18-3-1 on the young NHL season. It was the second time that the Sharks defeated the Blackhawks in a 1-goal game in less than 2 weeks.
Jonathan Toews scored both Blackhawks goals – 1 in the 2nd period and the 2nd goal less than a minute into the 3rd period that gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. The Sharks, however, tied the game with less than 12 minutes to go on Patrick Marleau’s goal. Joe Thornton scored the game-winner just 45 seconds into the overtime period.
Despite staying close all through the night, it was not the Blackhawks best showing. The Sharks out shot the Blackhawks 17-2 in the 1st period and 40-25 overall. The Blackhawks seemed out of sync for most of the game, but were able to stay with the best team in hockey for all 60+ minutes. The Blackhawks have 2 games left on the Circus Road Trip.
Blackhawks Climbing to Top in the West
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, General, NHL, Sports | No Comments
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night. It was the 3rd road win in a row for the Blackhawks. Head coach Quinneville has this young talented bunch playing with all the confidence in the world. Despite falling behind 3-0 midway through the 2nd period, the Blackhawks never lost focus. The Blackhawks cut the lead to 3-2 on back-t-back goals by Patrick Sharp (his 11th and 12th goals on the season). The Maple Leafs tacked on a 4th goal before the end of the period to give Toronto a 4-2 edge at home with only 20 minutes remaining.
The Blackhawks came out on fire to start the 3rd period. Less than a minute into the 3rd period, Patrick Kane’s 11th goal of the season cut the Maple Leafs lead to 4-3. And with 8 minutes left in the game, Ben Eager’s 3rd goal of the season tied the game at 4. The Blackhawks defense did the rest, keeping the Maple Leafs scoreless through the final 30 minutes of regulation. Playing better in overtime, the Blackhawks saw a win in sight. Dave Bolland scored the game-winner just 48 seconds into the extra frame. Blackhawks 5, Maple Leafs 4.
Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had another fabulous night. He saved 34 of 38 shots. He has started all 3 games on the current road trip and he has led the team to 3 wins in a row. The Blackhawks are now 10-4-5, good for 25 points and tied for 4th place in the Western Conference. What a great start to the “Circus Road Trip.”
Blackhawks on a Roll, Outshine Stars 6-3
Friday, November 21st, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments
The Blackhawks scored the last 3 goals of the game to make it 2 for 2 on the “Circus Road Trip.” Kris Versteeg’s 7th goal of the season gave the Blackhawks a 4-3 lead with just 30 seconds left in the 2nd period. Martin Havlat’s 6th goal of the season gave the Blackhawks a 2-goal cushion midway through the 3rd period and Patrick Kane’s empty netter with 16 seconds left in regulation iced the win for the Blackhawks. Nikolai Khabibulin saved 31 of 34 Dallas Stars shots and emerged with his 2nd victory over the Stars in the young NHL season.
Kane also scored a goal in the 1st period giving him 10 goals on the year. In addition to the game-winning goal, Kris Versteeg had 2 assists and has quietly put together an impressive start to the season. Three different players scored the Stars goals – Brenden Morrow, Mike Modano and James Neal.
What a great win for the Blackhawks. They now travel to Toronto to face the 7-8-4 Maple Leafs on Saturday night. After 3 days off, they head back to the west coast to take on the Sharks, Ducks and Kings during a 4-day stretch on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of next week. If the Blackhawks can pull out a win north of the border, they would guarantee themselves at least a .500 road trip. Quinneville has instilled in the team a quiet confidence that is sure to carry on with the crew through the entire season. The Blackhawks continue to play consistent hockey, they continue to get positive results from just about every player and they always feel like they can win on any given night. Of their 4 regulation losses, 3 losses have come on the road (2 of which were the first 2 games of the year against the Rangers and Capitals), 2 losses have been by only 1 goal and 2 losses have been by only 2 goals. Given those stats, the Blackhawks have shown that they can compete on the road and that they can stay in contests giving themselves every opportunity to pull out a victory. Kudos to Coach Q and the players for the great 2008-9 NHL start.
Categories
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Oct | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | ||||
