Niemi lifts Hawks, makes case for more playing time

Posted December 05, 2009 10:00 pm

By Tim Sassone

Antti Niemi might be forcing Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville to give him more playing time.

Kris Versteeg's goal in overtime gave the Hawks a 2-1 win with Niemi making 32 saves, including 17 in the second period.

"I think that he earned a lot of consideration for more ice time, for sure," Quenneville said. "We like tough decisions like that. It's nice to know that the tandem we have, the 1-2 punch, is strong."

Niemi, now 5-1-1, lost what would have been his third shutout with 1:32 to play when Jordan Staal got the tying goal on a rebound after the Penguins pulled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury for a sixth attacker.

But Niemi wound up a winner nonetheless when Versteeg dug out a Brian Campbell rebound for his ninth goal of the season.

It was Niemi's sixth start of the season. Cristobal Huet has started 22 games.

"He was great today," Quenneville said of Niemi. "It was a goalie win and he looked big, he looked confident, he found the puck, no rebounds, and he was in control."

"He came up large," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Marian Hossa's third goal at 7:37 of the first period nearly held up. Hossa fired another Campbell rebound into an open net after Patrick Kane started the play with a strong rush.

"I went to the net and the puck landed right on my stick," Hossa said.

It was a rough game, particularly in the first period. But the Hawks, led by Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith, stood up to the Penguins.

Matt Cooke caught Keith high with a check early in the first period, but Keith repaid Cooke minutes later with a high hit of his own.

Seabrook was a physical presence all night and did a good job with Keith trying to contain Penguins center Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin did his best to pick up the slack with teammate Sidney Crosby missing the game with a groin injury.

"Well, that's two years in a row that we didn't get to see him, and I'm not complaining," Quenneville said.

Quenneville switched some of his forward line combinations. Patrick Sharp went back to center, playing between Kane and Andrew Ladd, with Versteeg going to left wing on the top line with Hossa and Jonathan Toews.

Quenneville also dressed Jordan Hendry at left wing on the fourth line in place of the struggling Tomas Kopecky.

Tim Sassone's game tracker Blackhawks 2, Penguins 1 Three stars 1. Antti Niemi, Hawks: Another huge effort from the backup goalie with 32 saves, including 17 in the second period. 2. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins: A dominant game in a losing cause. 3. Brent Seabrook, Hawks: He was a physical presence in what was a nasty game. Key stat Hawks backup goalie Antti Niemi is now 5-1-1 with three of those wins coming on the road.

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