Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Live Streaming
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Live | Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks | Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Streaming | Chicago vs San Jose NHL Live Stream | Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Live Webcast
10:00 pm EDT Tue May 18, 2010
If there’s any team that should know how tenuous a 1-0 series lead can be in the NHL playoffs it’s the Chicago Blackhawks. The team that had to fight back after losing the opener to win the first two rounds finds itself in an unusual spot now, leading the Western Conference final 1-0 over the San Jose Sharks. The Blackhawks, in fact, had lost four straight series openers dating to last season before seizing the home-ice advantage by winning 2-1 in Game 1 at the Shark Tank on Sunday. They came back to win three of those series, only losing last year’s conference final against Detroit. While the Game 1 victory might take some pressure off Chicago heading into Game 2 on Tuesday night, coach Joel Quenneville wants to see the same level of desperation his team had in winning the second game in the previous two series after losing the opener.
There was no sense of satisfaction in the Blackhawks locker room on Monday and there was no sense of panic around the Sharks. Both sides still expect a long series between the top two teams in the Western Conference and they know how easily Game 1 could have swung in the other direction. There was Antti Niemi’s sprawling glove save to rob Ryane Clowe late in the second period to keep the game tied, a faceoff win by Jonathan Toews against Joe Thornton that set up Dustin Byfuglien’s game-winning goal in the third period, and a missed one-timer by Thornton in the closing seconds that could have tied the game. The Sharks outshot the Blackhawks 45-40, drew five power plays to none for Chicago and controlled the play for long stretches of the game. The biggest difference was the play of Niemi, who allowed only a first-period power play goal on a deflected shot against a team with many high-powered offensive players.
