The Ticket Chest

Battle for the West – Blackhawks & Coyotes Clash @ United Center

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments

The Chicago Blackhawks host the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at the United Center to determine who will be on top of the NHL’s Western Conference.  Both teams have 97 points, but the Coyotes are the hottest team in hockey right now, having won 9 straight games.  The Coyotes defeated the Blackhawks in a shootout on Saturday night and they even pulled past San Jose for the most points in the Pacific Division.  Phoenix is one of the biggest surprises in the NHL in 2010 and they appear poised and ready to make a long run through the 2010 playoffs in April, May and maybe even June.

The Blackhawks have struggled as of late, going 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.  They went 1-1-1 on their 3-game road trip against the Ducks, Kings and Coyotes last week, and seem to be a little bit out of sync after a huge 1st half.  The Blackhawks are still considered one of the top teams in the NHL and a good showing tonight will prove just that.  The Blackhawks are 26-7-3 at the United Center so it will be tough for the Coyotes to win tonight.  The Coyotes are the only Western Conference team that the Blackhawks have not beaten during the 2009-2010 NHL schedule, so something has to give tonight.  Defenseman Brent Seabrook is expected back in action tonight and Antti Niemi will man the net for the Blackhawks.  Go Hawks!

Tags: Antti Niemi, Brent Seabrook, Phoenix Coyotes

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.

Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes

Blackhawks Win First Shootout – Defeat Coyotes 3-2

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Sports | No Comments

What a wild ride. At the end of the night, the Blackhawks won the game 3-2. But along the way, there were more up and downs than Disney World’s Space Mountain ride in Orlando.

The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on 1st period goals by Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp. Both goals came with less than 2 minutes left to play in the period. The Blackhawks couldn’t muster much of an attack after that, however, getting out-shot by the Coyotes in both the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Coyotes cut the lead in half on Zbynek Michalek’s goal in the 2nd period, and they tied the game 6 minutes into the 3rd period on Shane Doan’s 10th goal of the young NHL season. It was a demoralizing feeling after leading by 2 goals after 1 period and not really taking advantage of the situation for the remaining 40 minutes of the game. In addition, the Blackhawks had previously had no success in overtime and shootouts this season, so they knew their chances of emerging with 2 points on the road were slim. Letting that early 2-goal lead slip away seemed even more disappointing because of that.

Neither team scored in the overtime period and it was off to a shootout – the 5th shootout of the year for the Blackhawks. Jonathan Toews scored for the Blackhawks and Nikolai Khabibulin saved Kyle Turris’ shot on goal. Patrick Sharp put the Blackhawks in a great position with a goal to go up 2-0 in the shootout. The Coyotes had their backs up against the wall and Khabibulin’s save of Peter Mueller’s shot sealed the deal for the Blackhawks. It was the Blackhawks first shootout victort of the season in 5 chances. Khabibulin saved 36 of 38 regulation shots on goal, plus 2 more in the shootout session. One of his best games of the year.

Most importantly, the Blackhawks started off the “Circus Road Trip” on a positive note. Next up is the Dallas Stars, whom the Blackhawks and Khabibulin beat back on Halloween night at the United Center. If the Blackhawks can go 2 for 2 at the start of the road trip, that should give them a lot of confidence for the rest of the trip.

Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes