Blackhawks Pull Out Point Against the Colorado Avalanche

Written by: EricC on 7th November 2009

The Chicago Blackhawks almost took the Avalanche during their eight round Shoot Out Friday night. After a tying goal from Andrew Ladd sent the game into Over Time, the Blackhawks and Avalanche were both determined to win. Cristobal Huet had the night off as Antti Niemi guarded the net, and what a job he did.

About six and half minutes into the game, Dustin Byfuglien gave the Blackhawks and early lead during a Power Play. About four minutes later, Duncan Keith made it a 2-0 difference against one of the best goalies in the NHL, today. In the final minutes of the first period, Colorado closed the gap a little with their first goal of the game.

In the second period, the Avalanche tied up the game after one of their players skated down the ice and fought through two Blackhawks defenders before putting one past Niemi. Less than a minute later, Colorado took the lead for the first time in the game. Luckily, Andrew Ladd had a tying goal in the final minutes of the period.

After a scoreless third period and Over Time, the game came down to a Shoot Out. Niemi held his own out there, but so did Colorado’s goalie. In the end, the Avalanche chalked up another win, bringing the record between the two teams to 1-1 after two Shoot Outs.

Niemi had a great game, despite the loss. He only had 19 saves during actual game play, but most of those saves were pretty crucial and pretty amazing. Not to mention, he had several more saves during the Shoot Out to keep the Blackhawks alive until the eighth round.

The Blackhawks will have two days of rest before taking on the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, November 9 at 7:00 P.M. CT. The Kings are currently 10-4-2.