All of 22 seconds into things Sunday, gloves and sticks burst into the air and scattered across the ice, as if someone dropped a live grenade into the faceoff circle.
Thus the Blackhawks’ Dustin Byfuglien and Anaheim’s Troy Bodie christened the teams’ meeting at the United Center not by breaking bottles but by attempting to break each other’s face. And that was also about as tangled up as the Hawks were all night.
After a few fits and fists at the outset, a 5-2 victory over the Ducks was an exercise in dominance in all facets, from Antti Niemi barely missing a fifth shutout to the Hawks producing four goal-scorers and 12 players with at least one point.
“That’s what’s great about great teams — one line doesn’t score, the next line scores,” said Hawks winger Marian Hossa, who snapped out of a funk with two third-period goals.
“That’s what we’ve got going right now. For a while it was the No. 1 line scoring all the time, now we’ve got more guys involved and we just keep going.”
Niemi had the post as an ally on a couple Anaheim shots but made more than his share of stellar stops. Two goals by the Ducks’ Petteri Nokelainen in the last four minutes spoiled the shutout — which would have tied Niemi for the league lead in just 13 games played — but not the night.
“Doesn’t matter to me,” Niemi said of losing the whitewash. His effort until those late tallies, however, certainly mattered.
“Antti made some big stops, some high-quality saves and gave us a chance to get into the game,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “He shut the door right off the bat.”
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