On Chicago goalie Antti Niemi:

“He’s been good for us all year,” forward Kris Versteeg said. “Everyone seemed to be doubting him except us. We’re confident in him. We have to give him a lot more help than we did tonight.”
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Niemi made 44 saves, Dustin Byfuglien scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:45 remaining in regulation to help Chicago get off to a fast start for a change this postseason by beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference final.
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The matchup between the top two seeds in the Western Conference featured fast skating and numerous scoring chances but few goals as Niemi and Evgeni Nabokov were up to the task for most of the game.

With the score tied at 1 in the third period, the Blackhawks found a way to break through. Captain Jonathan Toews won an offensive zone faceoff from Joe Thornton and Patrick Kane got the puck off the boards to Byfuglien. The talk going into the series was about how the Sharks would contend with the 257-pound Byfuglien in front of the net. But he showed he can also be dangerous from further out.

Byfuglien beat Nabokov with wrist shot from the slot for his fifth goal of the postseason, giving Chicago its first lead of the night.

“I feel like I’m at the top of my game right now,” Byfuglien said. “I think there’s improvements to be made. Just got to keep working and just getting in front, you know, getting dirty.”