Welcome to the Antti Niemi Show: Blackhawks-Penguins Game Diary

Jim Neveau, PIB Co-conspirator

Every so often here at Paint it Blackhawks, a game comes up that would seem ideal for a game diary. With a battle between the Hawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Igloo looming this evening, this game certainly fits the bill.

Sidney Crosby will not be skating in the game this evening, and Antti Niemi will be in goal for the Blackhawks. Tomas Kopecky is a scratch, and Jordan Hendry will be playing on the fourth line in his place.

Niemi comes into the game with a 1.85 GAA, and has a 4-1-1 record this season.

First Period:

-Marian Hossa is getting showered with boos every time he touches the puck. Way to let a Cup win soften your anger towards this guy Pens fans.

Antti Niemi (Pam Rodriguez)

-Chicago is controlling the tempo pretty well early on. They played similarly yesterday against the Preds early on, but they have to keep it up tonight. We at PIB apologize for the lack of a “Three Stars” column yesterday, but we figured if the Blackhawks were going to overlook the Predators in advance of this match-up, we would too.

-Interference penalty a little under 4 minutes in brings out the power play unit.

-Do me a favor Versteeg: if you see four black jerseys in front of you, don’t skate in amongst them and expect good things to happen.

-There have been some good chances on the power play, but Marc Andre-Fleury isn’t letting anything by.

-Another power play coming up for the Hawks 6:22 into the contest. They are getting a lot of pressure on net, but nothing has gotten past Fleury yet.

-Duncan Keith retaliates against Matt Cooke after Cooke elbows him in the head. Keith nailed him with a check, and got called for interference. Worth it though.

-After an excellent play by Patrick Kane shedding a check and dishing it to Campbell, Marian Hossa puts in the rebound to make it 1-0 Hawks. Let the boos rain again!

-A lot more physical play going on right now. Pittsburgh seems like they are a bit out of sync without Crosby on the ice.

-Another power play for the Hawks with about 8 minutes left. They have only had three shots on their three power plays thus far. That’s not going to get it done against the Penguins.

-After a minor 3-on-2 short-handed scare, the Hawks still lead 1-0 with about 5:30 left in the game.

-Matt Cooke just punched Duncan Keith in front of a referee…no penalty. Give me a break here.

-The play continues to be extremely intense. Bunch of big hits and scuffles after whistles. It all comes to an end with the horn as the Hawks are leading 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Second Period

-Blackhawks are playing some pretty stout defense early, even with the puck off of Niemi’s mask.

Jonathan Toews (Pam Rodriguez)

-Pittsburgh has been absolutely dominating the pace through the first seven minutes of the second period. They are out-shooting the Hawks, out-playing them, and out-hitting them. The Hawks aren’t playing terribly, it’s just that the Penguins have come out with their heads down to pummel the opposition.

-If they show that 1991-92 Penguins championship banner one more time, I might puke.

-Pat Foley had it exactly right when he called this playoff-style hockey. This is a lot like the Vancouver game: plenty of chances, plenty of hits, very little scoring.

-Just made a mistake and flipped to the Bulls-Raptors game. Bulls are already down 26 and it’s not even half-time. Stacey King also just brought up Neil Funk in a coconut bra and grass skirt. Folks wonder why the NBA is the most emotionally-polarizing league: either you love it or you hate it. People like Stacey King are the reason why.

-Still 1-0 Hawks back here at the game that actually matters. The Hawks have evened things back up in terms of momentum, but they still can’t get any sustained offensive attacks going like they were able to in the first period.

-Antti Niemi has made some outstanding saves in this game, and he just flat robbed Tyler Kennedy. Seven minutes left in the second, and still 1-0 Hawks.

-The teams have kept things above the belt this period thus far. Zero penalties in the first 14 minutes of the frame.

-The Pittsburgh faithful could give up on this game, with all of the chances and denials that they’ve had, but they keep ratcheting up the noise when necessary. Kudos to them for that, but the booing of Hossa is screwing things up a bit for me.

-Ben Eager has been a real force on the ice tonight. He has been getting in the middle of a bunch of scraps, and he has had some decent scoring chances around the net too.

Marian Hossa (Pam Rodriguez)

-Evgeni Malkin mugs Colin Fraser in the face-off dot, and doesn’t get away with it. Fraser gets a two-minute minor as well for his actions. Four-on-four hockey with 2:45 left in the frame.

-Very surprising that Geno didn’t get a fist in the teeth. When you cross-check a guy off the draw, push him to the ice, and keep hitting him with a stick, you generally get more punishment than just a two-minute penalty.

-Niemi just absolutely STONED Sergei Gonchar, and then Hjalmarsson prevented Ruslan Fedetenko from getting good wood on a rebound shot.

-The period finally ends with the score still 1-0 Hawks. Pittsburgh out-shot the Hawks 17-7 in that period, and dominated the pace throughout. Yikes.

-According to Sean Leahy, Antti Niemi hasn’t allowed a goal in 136:18. That’s over two games’ worth of shut-out hockey.

Third Period:

-In the first minute and a half of the third period, Kris Versteeg came within about two inches of scoring. The puck got past Fleury, but it went about two inches wide. Marian Hossa hopped over Fleury and nearly stuffed it home, but couldn’t get it around the post.

-After the initial burst, the Penguins have been dominating the pace of this game again. They are getting a ton of opportunities to score, and Niemi has been hanging in there beautifully.

-The Hawks are being outshot 29-21 with 11:30 left in the game. With the dominant performance by the Penguins, it is utterly shocking that the shot total isn’t more in favor of Pittsburgh.

-The two teams are back at each others’ throats. Plenty of action going on in front of the net, but nothing doing for the Penguins.

-A few more opportunities for the Hawks, but the Penguins are still dominating this game. Antti Niemi is single-handedly keeping the Blackhawks in front.

(Pam Rodriguez)

-Another shot by Hossa that trickles mere inches from the net. Hossa has had some legitimate scoring chances in this game, and he keeps barely missing.

-Evgeni Malkin was just lit up by Brent Seabrook in front of the Hawks’ bench. 3:50 left in the contest.

-With 1:39 left in the game, the Penguins have FOUR shots in the third period. Absolutely stout defense keeping them away from the net, even with all of the crazy rushes.

-The fifth shot is the killer: Jordan Staal nets a rebound to make it 1-1 with 1:31 left in the contest. Madden lost the face-off, the Pens cycled the puck, and that’s all she wrote.

-Huge scrum in the corner as the period ends and we are headed to overtime. 1-1 tie as we head to extra time.

Overtime:

-Hawks are 5-3 in OT this year.

-Malkin checked Kane at center ice. That was tough.

-After a tough save by Niemi, the Hawks score on a 3-on-2 the other way, with Versteeg pulling the puck in front of Fleury and potting it for the victory. Hard fought two points against the defending champs, to be sure.\

PIB’s Three Stars of the Game:

Third Star: Marian Hossa

Hossa scored a goal in his first game in Pittsburgh as a Blackhawk, and he seemed to relish in the boos that the Pens’ fans leveled on him. He had a couple other good chances to score, and was one of the only offensive bright spots for the team.

Second Star: Kris Versteeg

With the game winning goal, Versteeg continued his recent offensive spurt. His highlight reel goal on Tuesday was nice, but at least this goal won a game against the defending champion.

First Star: Antti Niemi

After his 154 minute scoreless streak came to an end when Jordan Staal tied the game at one, Niemi kept his resolve, and he was rewarded with a victory. He pushed his record to 5-1-1 this season, and his resume includes wins over the Canucks and Penguins. Hardly a bad run he’s been on.

He stopped 32 of the Pens’ 33 shots in the contest, and made so many spectacular saves that it was easy to lose count. Great win for the young man, and a great deal of the credit goes to him for the win.

Tags: Chicago Blackhawks