Hawks' Niemi saves the day in Game 1 win

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Antti Niemi casually called it one of the best games he has ever played.

One of them?

With all due respect to the Blackhawks' goaltender, there's no way Niemi could have ever played a better game than the one Sunday afternoon at HP Pavilion - if for the enormity of the setting alone, coming in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Niemi was nothing short of brilliant, stopping 44 shots and frustrating the San Jose Sharks in a heart-pounding 2-1 win by the Hawks.

"It's funny, we keep talking about him like he's surprising people," Hawks center Patrick Sharp said. "I think if you haven't figured out he's a great goaltender by now you're not watching the games."

After allowing an early power-play goal by Jason Demers, Niemi slammed the door shut the rest of the way. He kept the Hawks in it until they found their skating game with Sharp scoring at 7:44 of the second period to tie it.

Dustin Byfuglien got the game-winner on a slap shot from between the circles with 6:45 to play in regulation off a feed from Patrick Kane after Jonathan Toews won a faceoff from Joe Thornton.

The Sharks came out strong and outshot the Hawks 13-8 in the first period thanks in part to 3 power plays.

"They came out hard and still scored the first goal, but it easily could have been 2 or 3 to nothing," Sharp said. "Going into the third period in a tie game in this building, it was an opportunity we had to take advantage of."

Feeding off what Niemi was doing, the Hawks gained momentum from their first-year goalie in the second period and began to turn the game their way.

"I think we came along as the game went on and got some confidence going after that first 10 minutes of the first," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Getting that goal by Sharp was big. That's when we really started to roll and get some chances."

It was 1-1 near the 16-minute mark of the second period when Niemi made his best save of the day, reaching back while on the ice to get his glove on a shot by Ryane Clowe on a power play with the net wide open.

"I saw him standing with an empty net and I just wanted to get my hand in the way," Niemi said.

The save could have been the turning point in the game, although Sharks coach Todd McLellan felt by that time the Hawks already had turned things their way.

"I thought it turned a little before that (save)," McLellan said. "Coming out in the second period we had a little momentum and felt good about our game, but we had some execution problems in that first 10-13 minutes of the second period.

"We didn't come out of our end very clean and you could feel them crawl back in or work that way back to where they felt comfortable.

"We were a little hesitant and made some passes that went awry and it fed their transition game."

Byfuglien's winner came after Hawks coach Joel Quenneville made a shrewd line change, calling the Toews line for a faceoff to the left of Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Toews beat Thornton and Kane outworked Dany Heatley for the puck, which he feathered to Byfuglien.

"I got into an open area and Kaner seemed to find me," Byfuglien said.

The Sharks' big line of Thornton, Marleau and Heatley were on the ice for both Hawks goals. While McLellan did a good job of keeping his top line away from Dave Bolland, the group's defensive problems were exposed.

Thornton is now minus-8 for the playoffs and had 1 shot on goal Sunday. Heatley had 5 and Marleau 2.

"They had opportunities," McLellan said. "They produced a power-play goal for us, which is important against a very good penalty-killing unit. The fact they were on the ice for 2 goals against and got nothing 5-on-5, that happens."

Tim Sassone's game tracker Three stars1. Antti Niemi, Hawks: Sensational performance in goal with 44 saves.2. Duncan Keith, Hawks: An assist, 4 shots and 3 blocked shots in 27 minutes of ice time.3. Dustin Byfuglien, Hawks: Continued his big-time play, getting the deciding goal with 6:45 left in regulation.A leg upThe Hawks won Game 1 for the first time in their three playoff series.The quote"That was a big game from Antti, and we needed that kind of performance from him." - Hawks captain Jonathan ToewsFalse341512Blackhawks winger Troy Brouwer, left, celebrates a goal by Patrick Sharp against San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.Associated PressFalse <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Photo Galleries</h2><ul class="gallery"><li><a href="/story/?id=381184">Images from Game 1 of the Western Conference finals </a></li></ul><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=381216">Imrem: Big Buff comes up big in big situations <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=381245">Matchups don't matter to Hawks <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=381244">Sharks only show in San Jose <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=381230">Hawks vow to give Niemi more help <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=381229">No place like road for Blackhawks <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>