Chicago came back from a two-goal deficit in the first — just minutes after B's center Marc Savard left the contest with an apparent right knee injury — earning a convincing 5-2 victory on Thursday night.
After Boston pounced on Chicago goalie Antti Niemi with a pair of quick goals by Blake Wheeler and Miroslav Satan, the Blackhawks — the league's current point leaders — stormed back with five unanswered goals to grab their fifth straight win.
Blackhawks 5, Bruins 2
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Jan. 7, 2010
Headliner: Duncan Keith paced the Blackhawks attack with two goals and an assist — not to mention a plus-4 rating — to give the defenseman 40 points (8 goals, 32 assists) on the season. Keith, who finished last season with 44 points in 77 games, scored Chicago’s first goal of the game and later put them up 4-2 with a second-period tally.
Grinder: Bruins forward Blake Wheeler netted a power-play goal — his 11th tally of the season — on a perfect tip-in of a Derek Morris shot/pass from the point to get the B’s a 1-0 lead just 5:30 in. Wheeler also added an assist on the B’s second tally and he now has a three-game scoring streak in which he has four goals and three assists.
Chicago's Colin Fraser and Ben Eager each posted two assists in the win while netminder Antti Niemi kicked aside 19 of 21 shots he faced for his 11th win of the season.
Weak Link: Tim Thomas was yanked after coughing up his fourth goal in just over 30 minutes of action after he let in an easy, long wrist shot from Duncan Keith at the point which gave Chicago a 4-2 lead.
Key Moment: Andrew Ladd's eighth goal of the season proved to be the game-winner. His second-period tally put the Blackhawks up 3-2 thanks to assists from Brent Seabrook and Keith.
What's Next: Less than a week after getting topped at MSG by the Rangers, the Bruins get another chance at the Blueshirts on Saturday. They'll play host this time around at 1 p.m. ET in Boston.
On Monday night, Boston tied things up with two third-period goals against the Rangers only to see Christopher Higgins get the game-winner with just 1:29 remaining for the win.
