After Tuesday night's shut out of the Phoenix Coyotes, it appears that Antti Niemi is the man in net for the Chicago Blackhawks. A deeper look at the numbers should give Blackhawks fans more confidence in the rookie moving into April.
Niemi has had some rough patches this year just like veteran Cristobal Huet. Certainly his start at the New York Islanders on March 3, where he allowed three goals on 12 shots before being removed, was cause for concern.
But Niemi has bounced back with prolonged stretches of solid work between the pipes throughout the season, and his current stretch is no different.
Since replacing Huet in net against Detroit on March 7, Niemi has been solid. He has won three of five starts in that stretch, with overtime/shootout losses to Washington and Phoenix mixed in.
That means the Blackhawks have scored at least one point in each of Niemi's past five starts. Niemi's been perhaps the biggest reason for those valuable points while the defense in front of him has struggled through injuries.
His numbers have been great since the Islanders fiasco, including the time he started against Detroit. He' ...
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Article written by TAB BAMFORD
Antti Niemi Bandwagon Back in Business for The Blackhawks
March 24th, 2010 by TAB BAMFORD Leave a reply »
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