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CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane sped toward the net, and then shuffled his skates for a few precious seconds. http://www.blackhawkshockeyproshop.com/Niklas-Hjalmarsson-Blackhawks-Jersey/ . Then came a well-placed wrist shot, and the Chicago Blackhawks had another big victory. Something about the Boston Bruins brings out the best in Kane and Co. Kane scored in a shootout to lift Chicago to a 3-2 win over Boston on Sunday in a rematch of last seasons Stanley Cup finals, capping an impressive weekend for the Blackhawks that also included a victory over NHL-leading Anaheim. "Two big games against two great teams," Kane said. "I cant say we were going as well as we wanted to before these two games." Jonathan Toews beat Tuukka Rask on the stick side to give the Blackhawks the lead in the tiebreaker, but Brad Marchands quick wrist shot got by Corey Crawford, tying it up for the Bruins. Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy last year as playoff MVP, then skated toward the goal, slowed up for a second and sent a shot past Rask on the stick side to give Chicago the win. The Blackhawks had lost their previous seven games that had gone past regulation. "It was a great test, and nice to finally get a shootout win, too," coach Joel Quenneville said. Marian Hossa and Brandon Bollig had the regulation goals for Chicago, which beat Boston in six games in June for the title. Quenneville picked up win No. 692, matching Dick Irvin Sr., for third on the NHLs career list. Marchand scored in each of the first two periods for the Bruins, who had won two of three. Rask had 35 stops. "Its always nice to get a couple, but I wasnt really worried about trying to redeem myself from the finals or anything like that," said Marchand, who was shut out in the playoff series against the Blackhawks. "It was just a big game for our team and we need these points right now." It was Bostons first visit to Chicago since June 22, when the Blackhawks used two goals by Kane to win 3-1 and take a 3-2 lead in the NHL finals. The Blackhawks then had a memorable rally in Game 6 in Boston, scoring twice in 17 seconds late in the third to secure their second title in four seasons. The series included five overtime periods, including three in Chicagos 4-3 victory in Game 1. Together again for the anticipated rematch, the Bruins and Blackhawks once again were unable to decide the game in three periods. Defenceman Gregory Campbell had a chance to win it for Boston in overtime, but whiffed on a deflected puck. "We had some chances you wish we would have buried, but it just continues to be the same as it was last year," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "You need overtime to resolve these games against us." Chicago controlled much of the first and had a 1-0 lead before Marchand made the most of two open opportunities in a 69-second span overlapping the first two periods. First, Marchand got a slick pass from Patrice Bergeron and sent a wrist shot over Crawfords right shoulder at 19:41 of the first. The Blackhawks lost the sneaky forward again at the start of the second, and he used a clever fake to set up a shot through Crawfords legs for his 14th goal. It was Marchands second multigoal game of the season. He has four goals and an assist in his past three games. Bostons 2-1 lead lasted about 10 minutes. The Blackhawks caught a break when Bolligs bad-angle shot from the right side went off Rasks left foot and into the net for his fifth goal of the season. Asked what happened on Bolligs score, Rask said: "Good question. I had the post covered, my skate was there, I was ready. It just somehow went over, off of my skate or something." Coming off a 4-2 victory over NHL-leading Anaheim, the Blackhawks got off to a fast start in their second-to-last home game before the Olympic break. Patrick Sharp skated ahead to jump on a loose puck in the Bruins zone and then passed to the middle to Hossa, who pushed it by Rask to make it 1-0 at 4:13. Hossa also scored twice during Friday nights victory over the Ducks. The 35-year-old winger has five goals and two assists during a five-game point streak. The Blackhawks almost had a 2-0 lead in the first, but Rask made an outstanding stick save on Brandon Saad on the left side of the goal. Kane started the dazzling sequence with a spinning pass to a streaking Saad in front. NOTES: Bruins D Adam McQuaid left in the second period with an unspecified injury. ... Hockey Canada announced Sunday morning that Toews would serve as an alternate captain for the Sochi Olympics. Penguins C Sidney Crosby is the captain for the gold medal favourites, and Predators D Shea Weber is the other alternate captain. ... Toews received a 10-minute game misconduct penalty in the second period for throwing part of his broken stick over the glass. http://www.blackhawkshockeyproshop.com/Brandon-Saad-Blackhawks-Jersey/ . -- Kurt Buschs Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, in some ways, was like his career wrapped into one afternoon. http://www.blackhawkshockeyproshop.com/Customized/ . The New York Islanders captain was taken into the boards by Arturs Kulda in the second period. Tavares went down in a heap but skated to the bench where he was seen wincing in pain.BERLIN - Bastian Schweinsteiger scored one goal and set up another as Bayern Munich moved ever closer to the Bundesliga title with a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Schweinsteiger crossed for Mario Mandzukic to score with a powerful header in the 44th minute, and secured Bayerns league record 17th win in succession with a perfectly placed free kick in the 52nd. "It was an important goal, so Im happy it went in," the Germany midfielder said. Stefan Kiessling headed Leverkusens consolation from Roberto Hilberts cross in injury time. Bayern extended its league record unbeaten run to 50 games and moved 23 points clear of Borussia Dortmund with nine games remaining. Dortmund was beaten 2-1 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach, meaning Bayern can secure the title at Mainz next week if Dortmund and Schalke, 24 points behind in third, both fail to win. "I remember we were champions in Mainz a couple of times before. It was funny because they celebrated with us," Schweinsteiger said. "But its all the same when we do it." Bayern made a lacklustre start in its first game since Uli Hoeness stepped down as president after being convicted of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. Son Heung-min should have scored for Leverkusen in the 11th, when he had only Manuel Neuer to beat after being played in by Kiessling, but the South Korean shot wide of the far post. "I wanted to place it in the corner," Son said. "We did everything we could." Neuer also made a good save to deny Simon Rolfes from distance in the 29th. Mandzukic beat Philipp Wollscheid to meet Schweinsteigers cross before the break, and Schweinsteiger shot over the wall and inside the top left corner to seal the result. "We werent at out limit," Bayern midfielder Thomas Mueller grumbled. "Its all the same (when Bayern clinch the title). We want to win again to keep our rhythm so were there again in the knockout rounds of the Champions League." Earlier, Mainz came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Stuttgart, Wolfsburg could only draw 1-1 at bottomm side Eintracht Braunschweig, and Hertha Berlin lost 3-0 at home to Hannover. http://www.blackhawkshockeyproshop.com/Nick-Leddy-Blackhawks-Jersey/. Dortmund, which hosts Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday, was without influential midfielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus due to suspension and muscle problems, respectively, as 10-man Gladbach ended its nine-game run without a win. "We had a tough time and naturally were all relieved," said Gladbach coach Lucien Favre, who extended his contract on Wednesday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck the crossbar for Dortmund before Raffael scored at the other end in the 31st. Max Kruse made it 2-0 by drawing Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller first one way, then the other, before clipping the ball in. "When you go nine games without scoring then of course its a relief," said Kruse, who was dropped for Germanys recent game with Chile because of poor form. Havard Nordtveit was sent off for his second yellow card in the 69th, eight minutes before Dortmund substitute Milos Jojic pulled one back with a deflected shot. "It shouldnt happen to us at home," Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin said. "You could see after the sending-off that everyone believed in the equalizer but it wasnt to be." Hoffenheim led 2-0 minutes into the second half, but the defence crumbled, letting in three Mainz goals in an eight-minute span, and Shinji Okazakis second in injury time. "I cant explain why we gave the game away," Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol said. It had been briefly interrupted in the first half when Hoffenheims Andreas Beck crashed into a pitchside cameraman, knocking him and the TV camera over. Both needed treatment. The cameraman was carried away on a stretcher, while Beck carried on. With new coach Huub Stevens in charge, Stuttgart was hoping to end its nine-game winless streak. But Bremen equalized with 12 minutes to go. "A pity," Stevens said. Braunschweig was far happier in salvaging its draw with Wolfsburg. "This lets us continue on our journey of Bundesliga participation," Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht said. ' ' ' |
