Blackhawks 5 - Boston Bruins 4, Shootout Print E-mail
Saturday, 19 December 2009 01:27
By Dieter Kurtenbach

In a game that will surely be recalled as one of the most entertaining of the 2009-2010 season, the Blackhawks and Bruins traded hits, goals, leads and momentum for more than 60 minutes Friday at the United Center. The Blackhawks would win the game in a shootout, improving their record to 22-8-3.

Entering the second period trailing 1-0, the Blackhawks sured up the fundamentals of their game, eliminated the toxic turnovers that kept play in their defensive zone and started skating circles around the Bruins. The Blackhawks scored three goals in the period with each goal scorer notching their tenth goal of the year. 

The first goal for the Blackhawks was gift wrapped by Bruins’ defenseman Andrew Ference. Celebrating an early Christmas, Ference made a blind pass from the corner of the Bruins’ defensive zone that Kris Versteeg intercepted in front of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Versteeg had no problem beating the surprised Thomas. 

The Blackhawks took the lead when a defensively conservative Bruins squad was infiltrated by Brent Seabrook, leading the rush. Seabrook skated past no less than four Bruins defenders, drawing Thomas out of his net to cut off Seabrook’s angle. Thomas made a shoulder save on Seabrook’s shot, but the puck bounced in front of the net, where Patrick Sharp swept the front porch, making the score 2-1.

The Bruins notched the score when Mark Recchi took the puck away from Brent Sopel in the corner of the Blackhawks zone. With the Blackhawks pushing forward, anticipating Sopel to make an outlet pass, Recchi was able cut directly to the net when Daniel Paille was able put it home for the tie.

Jonathan Toews scored his sixth goal in the last nine games when Troy Brouwer made a centering pass in the final minute of the second period. Toews, set up in front of Thomas, was able to redirect the puck through the five-hole before Thomas could react to the pass.

The third period brought back-to-back goals, the first by Johnny Boychuk, who scored on a one-time slapshot from the right-wing faceoff circle to tie the game. The second goal was scored by Andrew Ladd, who had the puck bounce off his hand after a point shot by Brian Campbell.

But a late goal by the David Krejci tied the game at 4-4, and after a back-and-forth overtime in which no team scored, a shootout was in order. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both scored for the Blachawks, while Patrice Bergeron was stuffed by Antti Niemi and Blake Wheeler was denied by the post. 

The Not Three Stars of the Game:
Not Third Star: Antti Niemi
Not Second Star: Jordan Hendry
Not First Star: Brent Sopel

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