Blackhawks Beat Kings in Double Overtime

The defending champion, Chicago Blackhawks, beat the Los Angeles Kings in double overtime to force a game six in the Western Conference Finals.

The Blackhawks got on the board just 1:13 into the game after Drew Doughty took a seat in the penalty box for tripping Jonathan Toews.  Patrick Kane got the puck over to Toews, who made the pass to Brent Seabrook at the point.  Seabrook took a slapshot and it beat Jonathan Quick to give the Blackhawks the early 1-0 lead.

Johnny Oduya made a pass to Andrew Shaw and he for the puck to Kane in the neutral zone.  Kane made a nice move at the blue line, took the shot, and the puck went right to Oduya in the slot. Oduya beat Quick for the two-goal lead.

The Kings answered with a goal of their own.  They got into the Blackhawks zone and Jarrett Stoll was behind the net.  Stoll tried to pass it to one of his teammates out front but the puck got caught up in skates and none of the Blackhawks players could get a stick on it to clear.  Stoll came from behind the net, found the puck and wristed a shot that beat Corey Crawford to cut the Blackhawks lead in half.

Brandon Saad scored his fifth of the playoffs to give the Blackhawks the 3-1 lead.  Kane got the puck along the boards, and found Saad.  Saad passed the puck to a wide open Shaw, who was in the slot, and he took the shot.  Quick made the save but left a big rebound that found its way onto Saad's stick and he put it into the net.

Marian Gaborik then came back with a gaol of his own to make it a 3-2 game in favor of the Blackhawks.  Quick made a big pad save on Toews, which led to the eventual goal at the other end.  Dustin Brown got the puck and skated into the Blackhawks zone, where he made a little drop pass to Anze Kopitar.  Kopitar then made the pass over to Gaborik, who scored his 11th goal of the postseason.

The first period was wide open with both teams finishing with nine shots a piece.  Crawford didn't seem to be tracking or seeing the puck well during the first period.  There were five goals scored on just 18 shots between the two teams in the period.

The second period started off a little tighter than the first, but the Kings still managed to tie the game and then take the lead two minutes later.

Brent Seabrook failed to clear the Blackhawks zone and Brown took a shot, which was blocked.  The puck bounced right to Gaborik and he took the shot, but Crawford was there to make the save.  The rebound went right to Brown and he put it into the net to tie the game at three.

Mike Richards for the puck out of his own zone and into the neutral zone, where Jeff Carter managed to get the puck ahead to Tanner Pearson.  Pearson took the shot from just above the face off circle and it beat Crawford for the 4-3 Kings lead.  It was the fourth time in the playoffs that the Blackhawks had blown a two goal lead.

There was only one goal in the third period.  It came early but was the game-tying goal for the Blackhawks.  Ben Smith got the puck to Saad, who took a shot.  The shot was deflected over to Smith, who put the puck in the wide open net, just 1:17 into the period to tie the game.

There were chances for either team to win the game in the final 1:30.  Marian Hossa took a shot late but Quick made the save and Niklas Hjalmarsson made a nice defensive play for the Blackhawks to keep Carter from getting a scoring chance.

The first overtime was up-and-down hockey with hardly any whistles.  Both teams had scoring chances, but the Blackhawks had the better of them.  The period had such a fast pace to it that the teams managed to play it in just 26:45, and it usually takes teams about 45 minutes to play 20 minutes of hockey.

Saad had a goal and two assists and was everywhere for the Blackhawks tonight.  He played a solid game along with Kane, who had four assists and was a plus three in 28:34 of ice time.  Crawford started out slow and look shaky but redeemed himself with stopping the last 19 shots that he faced from the Kings.

Will the Blackhawks be able to force a game seven or will the Kings be going to the Stanley Cup Finals?  Tune in Friday night at 9pm on NBCSN to find out.