Niemi gets best of Blackhawks in Sharks 5-2 win

SAN JOSE, Calif. For most Blackhawks fans, this was one of those games circled in red when the 2010-11 schedule was released.

• Blackhawks vs. Sharks.

• A rematch of the Western Conference finals.

• The Hawks facing their former teammate, goalie Anttii Niemi, for the first time wearing enemy colors.

This one wasn't a letdown at all as the Hawks battled back from an early 3-1 deficit to make it a 1-goal game early in the third period on Patrick Sharps' 13th goal of the year. But in the end it was some untimely turnovers including a pair by Nick Boynton and a lack of results on special teams that did them in as they fell 5-2 to the Sharks.

It had the feel of a playoff game from the get-go as the Hawks swarmed Niemi while the Sharks opted to take the muscle route, hitting the Hawks whenever the opportunity arose.

“I liked the way we started the game … had some good intensity right out of the gate,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

After surviving the Hawks' initial swarm of 5 shots in the opening two minutes, the Sharks got on the board first when Dany Heatley beat Marty Turco at 13:24 of the first. Turco gave up 4 goals in a performance Quenneville deemed as “just all right.”

The Hawks never backed down, though, and when Sharp scored on a deflection, it got Sharks coach Todd McLellan sweating a bit.

“You could say in the third period memories of the past were coming out a little bit,” McLelland said with a smile.

But he need not have worried because Patrick Marleau nailed an insurance goal at 13:47 and then added an empty-netter to seal the verdict.

“Them having that lead was important, but then I thought we got ourselves back into it,” Quenneville said. “But then they got that fourth one.”

With all the talk of Niemi's first game against his former team, a lot of pressure was on the struggling Finn to produce Wednesday … and that's just what he did, stopping 30 shots to improve his record to 3-4-1.

“We had a pretty good idea that he would be a motivating factor for the rest of the players,” McLelland said, “and I'm glad to see that they showed up and played for him.”

The loss kept up the Hawks' win-lose-win-lose rotation on this road trip. But even after Wednesday's loss dropped them to 11-11-2, there still was an upbeat mood in the locker room.

“It was a good game other than special teams that's where we got outplayed obviously,” Jonathan Toews said. “This is two games where we did a lot of good things. We have to keep building on that.”

<P><B>Mike Spellman's game tracker</B> </P>

<P>Sharks 5, Blackhawks 2</P>

<P>><B>Three stars:</B> </P>

<P>1. Douglas Murray, Sharks: The big defenseman didn't register a point but sure made his point early on with 4 hits and 3 blocked shots in the first period alone. He also stopped a goal by sprawling in the crease in the final minute of play.</P>

<P>2. Antti Niemi, Sharks: The pressure was solely on the shoulders of the former Hawks goalie, and he came through against his former mates, stopping 30 shots to improve to 3-4-1 for the season.</P>

<P>3. Troy Brouwer, Hawks: Registered an assist on Jake Dowell's second-period goal, but, more important, he showed some grit by tossing paws with big Ryane Clowe.</P>

<P><B>Let's get physical:</B> The Sharks came out hitting early on and never slowed down, outmuscling the Hawks 32-21 in the hit department. San Jose also blocked 14 shots to the Hawks' 10.</P>