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Byfuglien beats Sharks with late goal
By Jeremy Kahn May 16, 2010 |
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SAN JOSE-In what most experts thought would be a high-scoring series, it did not turn that way in the opener of the Western Conference Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks. Dustin Byfuglien scored with 6:45 remaining in the game, as the Blackhawks defeated the Sharks 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 17,562 at HP Pavilion. That was the fifth goal of the postseason for Byfuglien, and it gave the Blackhawks their only lead of the game at the most opportune time. Jason Demers got the Sharks on the board in the first period, as he scored his first goal of the 2010 playoffs via the power play to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Demers’ goal came 43 seconds after an interference penalty on Byfuglien. Dan Boyle got the assist on the Demers goal, his 10th point of the postseason, tying him with Nicklas Lindstrom of the Detroit Red Wings for fifth place in this season’s playoffs. Patrick Marleau picked up the other assist on the Demers’ goal, his fifth consecutive game with a point, which includes two goals and three assists. It was the first career playoff goal for Demers, and he is now with Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators for the most points by a rookie during the 2010 postseason. That was the second penalty of the period on the Blackhawks, as John Madden (not to be confused with the former Oakland Raiders coach or broadcaster) was called for holding 2:50 into the first period. All in all, thru the first two periods, the Blackhawks were called for four penalties, while the Sharks were called for no penalties. Patrick Sharp scored his sixth goal of the postseason, as he scored off a wrister from 35 feet to tie up the game for the visitors from Chicago. With the victory, the Blackhawks are now 6-1 away from the United Center, and have now won six games in a row on the road. Antti Niemi came up huge in goal for the Blackhawks, as he made 44 saves on the afternoon against the Western Conference’s top seeded team. “I thought he was big (Niemi). The first period they come in here and we know that was our toughest challenge. You heard the building, that added to their enthusiasm. Then the crowd gets into it, they were off and I think we were off as well. Then we had to kill three shorts in the first. And then they scored on one. Only down one in the first period, we probably felt fortunate, but I still we really got our feet going in that second and really represented how we have to play going forward. The pace of the game was definitely rough throughout and a what a game,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. After Evgeni Nabokov was pulled with just over a minute remaining in the game, the Blackhawks were called for a tripping penalty on Kris Versteeg with 54.1 seconds remaining, but were unable to tie up the game and possibly send this game into overtime. |
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