Niemi's first-period saves impressive
If it weren't for goalie Antti Niemi in the first period on Sunday, the Blackhawks would have been facing an uphill battle against the Anaheim Ducks.
Playing with a bit of a hangover early from Saturday's emotional win in St. Louis, the Hawks needed 11 saves from Niemi in a scoreless first period.
With Niemi holding the fort, the Hawks scored twice in the second period and three more times in the third for a 5-2 win over the Ducks at the United Center.
"We progressed the second part of the game where we had the puck and had some zone time, but certainly they had some high quality chances and he shut the door right off the bat," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
"He was solid," defenseman Duncan Keith said of Niemi. "He made a couple really nice saves there. The puck was scrambling around the goal mouth there and (he made) a couple quick saves with his pads there that sometimes goes unnoticed. But we noticed on the ice there."
The Ducks also hit at least one post flush that could have sent the game in another direction.
"We had our fair share of chances, lots of 2-on-1s and we got scoring opportunities," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We hit the post or (Niemi) made some big stops."
Captain crunch: Hawks captain Jonathan Toews really got serious against the Blues on Saturday when he fought David Backes in the second period.
It was only the second fight of Toews' three-year career. His first was against the Coyotes' Martin Hanzal.
"It's awesome," center Colin Fraser told chicagoblackhawks.com. "There's nothing wrong with fighting at the odd time. I don't think he has to do it every game now, but to get one in every once in a while is good and the guys got fired up after that."
Toews picked a perfect spot to drop the gloves with the Blues thinking they could push the Hawks' best players around.
"Obviously we don't expect him to do that, or necessarily want him to do that, but it was pretty impressive," Duncan Keith said. "It shows the character he's got to know the situation."
Eager cleared: Left wing Ben Eager escaped suspension Sunday for the match penalty he received in the final minutes at St. Louis from his fight with Barrett Jackman.
Eager received the match penalty for having tape on his hands, which is against NHL rules.
Tip-ins: Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson sat out again with a cut near his ear from a puck suffered Thursday against New Jersey while sitting on the bench. ... The Ducks were without stars Ryan Getzlaf (deep leg cut) and Teemu Selanne (broken hand). ... According to reports, Blues winger Keith Tkachuk lost several teeth and suffered a cut above his mouth from the puck that struck him against the Hawks on Saturday.