from Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times,

The Blackhawks’ problem in Game 1 of the Western Conference final was a familiar one — the goalie was better than they were. And the solution is as old as hockey itself.

“I think we have to work for [goals],” captain Jonathan Toews said prior to Game 2 against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. “We’re going to have to play harder around the net and I think as everyone says, it’s always about traffic. It’s about making things difficult for a goaltender to see.”

As Toews noted, the Hawks have faced hot goaltenders many times in the playoffs and figured a way to get the job done. In the 2013 Western Conference final, the Kings’ Jonathan Quick came in off a big series against the Sharks — a 1.43 goals-against average and .951 save percentage. By the second period of Game 2 against the Hawks, Quick was on the bench after allowing four goals on 17 shots. The Hawks won the series in five games.

They did the same to the Bruins’ Tuukka Rask in the final (16 goals in six games) that year. And they just beat two of the three Vezina Trophy finalists (the Predators’ Pekka Rinne and the Wild’s Devan Dubnyk) to reach this year’s conference final.

So after the Ducks’ Frederik Andersen stymied the Hawks in a 4-1 Anaheim victory in Game 1 on Sunday, the Hawks went to their default solution: net-front presence.

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