Niemi is well again- and so are the Blackhawks

Antti Niemi is back- and was the Number One Star tonight in St. Louis, coming within less than two minutes of a shutout as the Hawks' losing streak ended. Final score: Chicago 2, St. Louis 1.

Antti lost his shutout because Bret Sopel was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 17:58 of the third period after making an unwelcome comment to the referee. The Hawks were already killing a penalty. When the Blues pulled their goalie, that effectively gave them a three-man advantage. Alex Steen scored at 18:14.

Whatever Sopel said, it must have been pretty bad for a ref to give him a penalty in that particular situation.