The Chicago Blackhawks won a 2-1 thriller to take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. Antti Niemi, the Blackhawks goalie was simply awesome in net as he made one great save after another to lead Chicago in a pulsating win. The Finals resume with Game 3 back in Philadelphia.
As pourous as the Chicago defense was in their 6-5 win in Game one, Niemi and the defense was terrific in holding off a desperate Flyers effort. Niemi made 32 saves, some of those defied description. He was all over the crease and net, and cut off angles and made hard saves look easy coming up with some amazing blocks. He was on his game.
The Hawks broke through for 2 quick goals and held on as fans gasped at the frenetic end to end action. Earlier I wrote that Chicago would have to play well because the Flyers would push them. In this game Philadephia pushed the Hawks to a high level, perhaps the best game we've seen them play in the playoffs thus far. The Hawks played smart, and didn't take stupid penalties, and the score might have been higher except that Leighton made equally stellar saves for Philly.
But the two goal lead held up and now the Hawks are closer to the Cup than they've been in generations, it seems like eons ago. How both teams played at the up and down pace for long lengths of time was incredible. Viewers saw Prime-Time Hockey tonight. And, Blackhawks fans saw their team take a 2-0 lead in the Finals.
