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A Third Consecutive Shoot Out Win for the Hawks

Written by: EricC on 15th February 2010

The Chicago Blackhawks have gone up against the Columbus Blue Jackets four times this season, and each time they have pulled out a win. Sunday was both teams’ final game before the Olympic break, and what a game it was! The Division Rivalry was heated as these two teams fought for the win, ending up in a Shoot Out after Columbus tied it up in the third period. Troy Brouwer, who had to serve some penalty time after getting into a brawl defending Patrick Kane, grabbed the Shoot Out win for Chicago, leaving them only two points behind the Western Conference leader.

The Blue Jackets got the upper hand early in this game, scoring their first goal in the 11th minute of the game, followed by a second goal only about two minutes later. Luckily, with less than six seconds left in the period, Kane scored a Power Play goal to keep the Hawks’ spirits alive in the second period. Kane has now tied his career high for goals as a Blackhawk, and is only five points away from tying his Total Points High as a Blackhawk.

The second period was where the young players from the Rockford Ice Hogs, who were called up to play, showed what talent they bring to the Blackhawks organization. Bryan Bickell started off with a tying goal for the Hawks, getting his second goal of the season. Then, a little more than halfway through the period, Jake Dowell put in his first goal of the season, giving Chicago the lead. A little more than two minutes after that, Patrick Sharp made it a two goal lead off an assist from Jonathan Toews; in a little over 14 minutes, split between two periods, the Hawks put in four consecutive goals and took control of the game.

Unfortunately, the Hawks weren’t able to put this one away in Regulation Time. With under three minutes left in the second period, the Blue Jackets scored off a Power Play goal, putting themselves back in this game. A fourth, and final, goal in the third period, by Columbus, sent the game into Overtime. Chicago out shot Columbus 5-1 in Overtime, but neither team was able to put anything in.

In the Shoot Out, Kane was the first player to put a goal in, during the second round. His goal had the potential to be the game winning goal, except Columbus put in a goal; with a miss by Sharp, the Shoot Out went into a fourth round. With the absence of Marian Hossa, due to an injury, the Blackhawks turned to Brouwer, who put it in for the win.

Antti Niemi got his first start against the Blue Jackets, and his fourth consecutive start overall. He has pulled out a win in all four of those starts, and three of them have been Shoot Outs. Niemi is now 5-1 in Shoot Outs for the season. He had 22 saves against the Blue Jackets, not including his saves during the Shoot Out.

The Blackhawks will have a little over two weeks off for the Olympic break. When they return on Tuesday, March 2, they will be taking on the New York Islanders in their only Regular Season match up. The puck will drop at 6:00 P.M. CT.