Author Archives: Brad Gardner

Howard, Red Wings stand tall, Take 2-1 series lead; Game 3 clouded over questions on officiating

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The second round playoff series between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, tied at one game apiece, shifted to Joe Louis Arena for Game 3 on Monday night. Even though the Blackhawks offense opened up to the tune of 40 shots, doubling their total from Game 2, Jimmy Howard stood tall in net for the Red Wings and carried his team to a 3-1 victory.

Quick strikes from bottom-six forwards Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller in the second period put the Blackhawks in a hole from which they would not get out. Patrick Kane scored for the second consecutive game, but Howard came up with the save on the rest of Chicago’s 39 shots, including saves on 16 of the 17 shots he faced against the Hawks late push in the third period.

Viktor Stalberg suited up for the Blackhawks after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the series. It looked like his night might end early when on his first shift the game, Jakub Kindl ducked a check, sending Stalberg head first into the boards. He was slow to get up but eventually skated off under his own power. After a few minutes in the locker room, Stalberg returned to the bench. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Detroit draws even: Disjointed Blackhawks effort leads to 4-1 Red Wings victory in Game 2

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Brad Gardner| 2 Comments

By Brad Gardner

Three days after the Chicago Blackhawks took a 4-1 victory in Game 1 of their second round playoff series against rival Detroit, the Red Wings responded in kind with a 4-1 win of their own to even the series. Henrik Zetterberg assisted on two goals for Detroit as the visitors handed the ‘Hawks their first home loss of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Red Wings’ tight-checking game didn’t give the Blackhawks nearly as much room to operate as they had in the latter stages of the first game. The puck possession time favored Detroit, and even when the Hawks were able to get a shot on goal, they did not challenge Jimmy Howard too much. The Red Wings goalie made 19 saves on only 20 shots, the lowest total for the Blackhawks in the playoffs.

Corey Crawford made 26 saves on 30 shots and did not look as sharp as the Blackhawks had come to expect of him in the playoffs. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hossa strikes twice; Hawks advance, Eliminate Wild

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Corey Crawford put on a show early for the United Center crowd, before the offense kicked into gear and put the Wild in the rear view.

Marian Hossa scored twice and Jonathan Toews, scoreless in the first four games of the series, got on the score sheet with two assists. The Hawks out-shot the Wild 33-22 in the game, but Crawford had a handful of huge stops in those 21 saves.

The visitors had more than a few good looks in the opening period, but the play of Crawford kept them off the board. The stingy Hawks defense from game four was not immediately noticeable, but Crawford could do no wrong; his worst rebounds wound up being his best saves, turning away initial chances from the likes of Jason Pominville and Devin Setoguchi only to make better saves on the subsequent looks from Mikko Koivu and Matt Cullen. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Game recap, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hawks take 2-0 lead in series heading to Minnesota; Magic Frolik Returns

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Chicago Blackhawks took a 2-0 series lead over the eighth seeded Minnesota Wild with a win at home on Friday night. After jumping out to a two-goal lead in the second period, the Blackhawks eventually held on to win by a final score of 5-2.

It was a rematch in net between Corey Crawford and Josh Harding after each goaltender turned in a strong performance in Game 1 of the series. Neither disappointed on Friday, even though it was a higher-scoring affair. Crawford got the win in Game 2 with 26 saves, while Harding managed 43 saves on 47 shots in the loss.

Michael Frolik and Patrick Sharp registered two goals apiece as the Blackhawks carried play for a majority of the game. Despite a substantial lead in the shot column for the home team, the visitors remained in it for much of the game, trailing only by one goal heading into the third period. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Game recap, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Toews, Kane tally in regular season home finale win

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks completed the season sweep of the Calgary Flames on Friday night with a 3-1 win at the United Center. First period goals from Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews proved to be enough for the home team, which had little to play for having clinched home ice advantage throughout the playoffs with their win on Wednesday.

Corey Crawford bounced back with a win in net after going 0-1-1 in his previous two starts. Crawford played over 46 minutes in Wednesday’s game in Edmonton, stopping all 14 shots that he faced, but that decision went to the game’s starter, Ray Emery, who left in the first period with a lower-body injury.

Back at home on Friday, Chicago iced a lineup that is likely very close to the one that will be deployed when the playoffs begin next week. Dave Bolland remained out of the lineup due to a groin injury and Niklas Hjalmarsson was also scratched, but otherwise the regulars were utilized normally. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Blackhawks Out-Everythinged in Vancouver

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Chicago Blackhawks were throttled early in Vancouver and the Canucks did not let their foot of the gas pedal, taking a 3-1 victory over the top team in the Western Conference. Daniel Sedin assisted on the eventual game-winner and scored a goal of his own late in the second period.

Cory Schneider got the win for the Canucks by stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced. Corey Crawford faced a far greater number of quality chances and came away with 29 saves in the loss.

Although the Blackhawks came into Monday’s games with a chance to clinch the President’s Trophy, the Pittsburgh Penguins came away with a 3-1 victory in Ottawa, keeping the President’s Trophy out of the Blackhawks’ reach on Monday. With three games left to play for each team, Chicago still holds a three-point lead over Pittsburgh for the league’s best record. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blackhawks, Wings tie; Saad clinches extra point in the shootout

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Brad Gardner| 1 Comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks completed the season sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 shootout win at the United Center on Friday night. Jonathan Toews tied the game with around three minutes left in regulation and Brandon Saad scored the decisive goal in the shootout.

The Blackhawks clinched the Central Division title in what will be the last regular season meeting between the two teams while they are division rivals. The longest rivalry in hockey will be relegated to inter-conference play next season when the Red Wings move to the Eastern Conference.

Corey Crawford got the start for the first time in eight days, matching up against Detroit’s Jimmy Howard, fresh off signing a six-year extension with the Wings. Both goalies turned in strong performances, with Crawford making 27 saves and Howard 26. Of the ten total attempts in the shootout, the goalies allowed only three conversions. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Blackhawks clinch playoff berth with win over Preds

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks completed the weekend sweep of the Predators with a 5-3 victory on Sunday night at the United Center, becoming the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.

A pair of goals inside of one minute during the third period was the difference for Chicago, which beat Nashville for fourth time this season. The Blackhawks moved to 9-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs during this condensed season.

Ray Emery earned a second consecutive start after shutting out the Predators on 20 shots in Nashville on Saturday. He stopped 19 of 22 shots in this one, coming up with key saves during the second and third periods while the game was still up for grabs. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hawks can’t close the deal; Blues win in shootout

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Brad Gardner| 5 Comments

By Brad Gardner

The Blackhawks hosted the St. Louis Blues at the United Center on Thursday night for the first meeting between the two teams since the end of February. Thursday’s tilt marked the first of three games scheduled between the Central Division rivals this month.

Another lead was given away in the third period by Chicago, but they managed to come away with a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blues, who registered their first victory over the Hawks this season. The back-and-forth battle saw the Blackhawks out-shoot the Blues 36 to 22 in the game, while the Blues out-hit the home team 43 to 21.

Adam Cracknell opened scoring in the first period with his first career NHL goal. Duncan Keith lost an edge in the offensive zone and Chris Porter’s outlet pass sprung Cracknell on a 1-on-1 break. Brent Seabrook moved over to pick up the man, but appeared to get a piece of Cracknell’s shot that caused it to deflect past Corey Crawford. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Late goal gives Anaheim season sweep of ‘Hawks

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Brad Gardner| Leave a comment

By Brad Gardner

The Anaheim Ducks completed the season sweep of the Blackhawks on Friday at the United Center with a 2-1 regulation win. Ray Emery suffered his first loss of the season because a Sheldon Souray shot deflected off a Blackhawks defenseman in front of the net for the game-winning goal.

Chicago managed just one of a possible six points against the Western Conference rival Ducks on the season. The Blackhawks still hold a three point lead in the standings with one game in hand over Anaheim, who entered the United Center on Friday in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

The Western Conference’s two best teams played another tight game with little difference when it came to the shots, hits, and blocked shots. Both teams managed nine shots in the opening period but neither was able to solve the opposing goaltender in the first. Read more »

Share

Posted in Blackhawks, Brad Gardner, Game recap

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,