The Chicago Blackhawks stormed into the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 18 years by completing a 4-0 clean sweep of the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.
The Blackhawks finished off a surprisingly one-sided Western Conference final series by clawing their way back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 against the Sharks, who finished the regular season with the best record in the conference, but ran out of puff in the playoffs.
The Blackhawks will now play the winners of the Eastern Conference final between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens.
“It doesn’t get any better,” Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith said in a televised interview. “This is what we play for and dream of since we’re kids. It’s going to be a hell of a time and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
Try as he might, though, Keith could not crack a smile.
While his teammates were flashing their cheesy grins for the cameras, Keith was looking for the seven teeth he lost after being struck in the mouth by a flying puck.
“It’s just missing teeth,” he told the NHL’s official Web site. “It’s a long way from the heart.”
“I took one breath and it felt like my whole mouth was missing, so I knew there were some teeth gone,” he said.
Keith said he saw two of his teeth fall out of his mouth. Another dropped into his throat and he coughed it back up, but he had no idea where the other four ended up.
“A bunch of them disintegrated,” he said.
Keith was immediately rushed off the ice and into the team’s medical center where he was given a series of painkilling injections, but as soon as he had lost all feeling in his gums, he was back in the game to help his teammates to the win.
“It’s not as bad as you think it is,” he said. “I’d probably be hurting a lot more if we lost. Two of them were fake already, so hopefully I can get some nice teeth now.”
The Blackhawks, one of the original six NHL teams, have long been regarded as underachievers, but are suddenly on the verge of ending a drought that has spanned almost half a century.
They won the last of their three Stanley Cup titles in 1961 and this year marks their first appearance in the final since 1992, while the Sharks were left ruing another missed chance to win their first conference title.
“They [Chicago] certainly deserved the series,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said.
“I thought we played hard with them. We competed with them. You know, we battled. We were in every minute of every game, but we were the second-place team,” he said.
The Sharks had looked poised to force the series at least into a fifth game when they opened up a deserved 2-0 lead inside the second period, only for Chicago to fight back with four unanswered goals.
The visitors opened the scoring after 11 minutes, 8 seconds of the first period when Logan Couture scored off a deflected shot, then doubled their advantage 7 minutes, 35 seconds into the second period when Patrick Marleau found the net when his team were a man down.
“We didn’t get the start we wanted, but we stuck with it,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “We wanted to get it done at home. It was just four games, but it felt longer than that.”
Brent Seabrook pulled one back after 13 minutes, 15 seconds of the second period after officials originally ruled a no-goal, but allowed the score after a video review. Dave Bolland tied the game two minutes before the end of the second period with a wraparound shot.
The final period was played at a ferocious pace as both teams searched for the winner. San Jose were unlucky not to regain the lead when they hit the post and Chicago seized their chance six minutes from the end.
For the second game in a row, Dustin Byfuglien scored to put his team ahead, whipping the capacity crowd into a frenzy. With 42 seconds left on the clock, Kris Versteeg slipped the puck into an empty net as the celebrations in Chicago began.
“That was a heck of a team that we just beat,” Toews said. “We’ve got to use this confidence and we can be really excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us.”
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
RSS