Playoffs, Day 1: Harding shines in defeat May 01, 2013

In what was a hotly contested affair, the Chicago Blackhawks were able to hold on to their home ice advantage, winning game 1 by the score of 2-1. Stu Bickell would eventually be the game’s hero, scoring at the 16:35 mark of the first overtime period.

Johnny Oduya, who led his team in shifts (39) and trailed only Michal Rozsival in ice time (26:47), helped set up the winning goal, chipping the puck up ice to speedster Viktor Stålberg who made a deft pass to Bickel for the winner.

On the other side, Cal Clutterbuck wrist shot in the first period gave the Wild the lead. Minnesota then played a crafty defensive style, limiting Chicago’s breakneck pace for much of the game.  Clutterbuck also dished out three hits, a couple of which were of the bone-jarring variety.

The story of the game, however, was Josh Harding. After Niklas Backstrom succumbed to injury in the warm-up, Harding filled in on limited notice, stopping 35 of 37 shots in the overtime loss. Harding who was diagnosed with MS last fall, added another chapter to his heroic comeback.

For more on Harding, check out the Yahoo! Sports story, here. 

For more on last night’s game keep reading the TSN article, here.