from Eric Stephens and Rich Hammond of the OC Register,

After their 4-hour, 52-minute Game 2 victory Tuesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks stayed overnight in Southern California then flew home Wednesday morning. Not surprisingly, they skipped practice.

The question for the Blackhawks involves how well they will rebound from a physical standpoint in Game 3, particularly on defense. Duncan Keith played 49 minutes, 51 seconds, in Game 2. Brent Seabrook played 47:46, Niklas Hjalmarsson played 47:45 and Johnny Oduya played 46:06.

The Ducks’ Francois Beauchemin played 46:29, but no other Ducks defenseman topped 40 minutes.

“You just focus on the next game,” Hjalmarsson said. “Yeah, it was a lot of minutes, but we won the game and we’ll move on from there. Personally, I feel fine. I have no complaints.”

The Blackhawks have been here before. In the first round against Nashville, they won Game 1 in double overtime and Game 4 in triple overtime. The Blackhawks followed both long victories with losses, though.

“I think there’s a lot more left in the tank,” captain Jonathan Toews said, “and we’re excited to get back to home ice, to try to get (the Ducks) on their heels a little bit more and just find that excitement and jump and energy.”

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