Niemi strong in net, could be the home starter

October 22, 1:17 PMChicago Blackhawks ExaminerDieter Kurtenbach

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Niemi was strong in net for the Blackhawks

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Antti Niemi and the Chicago Blackhawks lost last night's game with the Vancouver Canucks, but for the first time in a long time, it was not the play between the pipes that did the Blackhawks in.

Niemi made 28 saves on 31 shots. In the end he made one less big save than his counterpart, Roberto Luongo. That can hardly be held against him, as the Blackhawks were shorthanded for almost half of the third period, and only put 10 shots on goal in the second and third periods, combined. Niemi kept the out-of-sync Blackhawks in the game with numerous big saves. In the battle of Niemi versus Luongo, Niemi faced the harder competition and almost won.

Niemi's play, though it will be hyperanalyzed by all, bought Cristobal Huet and Joel Quenneville a little more time to figure out what the hell is going on. Believe it or not, Antti Niemi is the Blackhawks' No.1 goaltender.

While I would point to Niemi as a positive, I will not do so with Jordan Hendry or Cam Barker. Hendry was beaten in his own zone several times and made a very bad turnover that could have easily resulted in a goal if not for a strong pad save by Niemi. When Barker was on the ice, it felt like a horror movie - I knew something bad was going to happen defensively, I just didn't know when. Sure enough, nearly every Barker shift, something went wrong defensively.

The Blackhawks powerplay is struggling and Barker is as culpable as anyone else for that. His offensive game is not covering up for his lack of any sort of a defensive game and that's a very big problem for the Blackhawks. I felt that Barker was the best defenseman on the Blackhawks after the All-Star game last year. He was taking the body and his defense was remarkably improved. All of that has flown out the window in the new year, and I want to know where the hell it went. Barker is not Brian Campbell, he can't make plays happen from nothing. He's a stationary powerplay point man. With the Blackhawks needing to move some money around at some point before next offseason, Barker is sitting right on the top of the list of players to be moved.

Hendry should not play against Nashville because Brent Sopel has played better than him. Yes, Jordan Hendry was outplayed by Brent Sopel. That said, with the injury to Seabrook, both might have to play. If Quenneville feels so strongly about playing Hendry, and Seabrook is healthy, he should scratch Cam Barker.

As bad as the unholy duo of Hendry and Barker were last night, Niklas Hjalmarsson was a revelation of all things good on the blueline. He made play after play, seemed to read every situation just right, and was vital on the penalty kill. The fact that Hjalmarsson was a minus one was a tragedy, as it was an unassisted goal after a giveaway by Campbell and Kane that destroyed what should have been a perfect stat line. Hjalmarsson had 18 minutes of icetime, and I hardly think that is enough. If Seabrook is out, roll Keith and Hjalmarsson together and we'll see them make beautiful defensive music together.

Andrew Ebbett is going to play a big role on the team, but that role isn't of fourth liner. I liked Ebbett's scrappiness along the boards, but the Canucks exposed the Blackhawks lack of a checking line last night and Ebbett is not part of that equation, mainly because Colin Fraser and Tomas Kopecky can hardly pick up their own physical play, much less the slack left by Ebbett. With Toews' injury status in the air, Ebbett will pick up minutes at center, but hopefully with Kane and Byfuglien on his wings. A line of Bolland, Sharp and Versteeg sounds just right to me.

Back to the fourth line, the Blackhawks are really missing Ben Eager, but worse yet, no one has assumed Eager's main role of enforcer. Byfuglien tried last night but failed, and Brouwer is willing to scrap it up a little, but neither have assumed the role. I have no problem with Versteeg standing up to Willie Mitchell after his hit on Toews, but when Mitchell hit the ice again, who was there to follow through? That's where Eager comes in, and in a physical game, that's what the Blackhawks were missing. They let Vancouver dictate the game and it's very hard to win when the other team controls play.

Thoughts? Opinions? Post them in the comments section or post them on twitter: @dkurtenbach