Hiller of an effort sinks Hawks

After learning of the Blackhawks' near-epic, fall-from-ahead loss to Minnesota on Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks were expecting to face one fired-up team Sunday night at the United Center.

"We knew they'd be coming at us," said Ducks' goalie Jonas Hiller. "They're not up there in the standings just by accident. We knew it was going to be a difficult game."

"I thought they would be nasty," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "I thought they would be really upset and snarly and come out with a lot of fire."

It wasn't necessarily a fired-up Hawks team that took the ice Sunday evening, but one that sure fired a lot of shots on goal - finishing the game with 43 whacks.

Trouble was, only 1 of those made it past Hiller.

And of the 6 shots Hawks goalie Antti Niemi faced in the first period, 2 went in - and that all but sealed the verdict thanks to the stellar play of Hiller (16-12-2).

"The way things have gone for our hockey club, I thought he stepped up and was probably single-handedly the most effective player on the ice," Carlyle said. "You don't ask for him to win the game, but to give you a chance, and he went above that. He won the hockey game.

"It was a team effort, but our No. 1 star was our goalie."

"It was one of my best games this year," Hiller admitted. "We played well defensively - we were cleaning the rebounds and had a lot of blocked shots. It was a big effort and that's why we won."

It had to be a big effort by everyone because the game ended with a huge discrepancy in shots on goal (43-11). As it turned out, those 11 shots by Anaheim tied a franchise record for fewest in a game.

The gap in shots on goal really didn't widen until the final two periods. In the opening 20 minutes the Hawks held just a slight 9-6 edge as they saw the Ducks jump ahead by a pair of goals.

"We found a way in the first period to disrupt the little things, trying to keep things to the outside," Carlyle said. "They had lots of shots but the second and third opportunities weren't there.

"This isn't an easy building to play in; they've got a very good hockey club and the shot total proves it."

But in the end, the difference was Hiller.

One reporter tried to compare Hiller's play Sunday with that of some of the all-time great goalies in the game.

Carlyle wasn't buying.

"What is he paid to do?" Carlyle said.

"Stop the puck," the reporter replied.

"End of story," Carlyle said.

Indeed.