Series tied
Blackhawks tie series in OT
BOSTON — Inside TD Garden, Boston Bruins fans were loving every minute of it savouring it, not wanting it to end.
The flurry of goals. The comebacks from Chicago Blackhawks leads of 1-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4.
All but the end, of course, a dramatic 6-5 overtime loss to the Blackhawks.
They were savouring it because with a win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, it may have been the last time they would see their boys until parade time.
The Blackhawks had other plans Wednesday night, however, and once again this is looking like a series that may never end. And who would want it to? Brent Seabrook’s blast from the point 9:51 into overtime gave Chicago the thrilling victory.
In what was their best effort of the series so far, the Hawks have squared the series up at two wins apiece and will head back to the United Center for Game 5 with home-ice advantage once again intact.
The Hawks, playing with fullout desperation, finally got some production from their big guns. At the end of regulation, they had a big 41-28 edge in shots and were much stronger on all spots of the ice.
On a night when captain Jonathan Toews and running mate Patrick Kane finally scored goals, the only thing that almost killed them was the suspect play of goaltender Corey Crawford and the strong will of their opponent, a Bruins team unwilling to yield no matter how bleak things may look.
Though not quite so dramatic as the comeback from three goals down in Game 7 of their openinground series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wednesday night it sure had its moments.
Twice down by a pair, the Bruins just kept on coming.
After trailing 4-3 following the second period — a brilliant five-goal affair that had the place rocking from rinkside all the way up to the press box — the Bruins kept on moving.
They tied it at 2:05 of the third with Patrice Bergeron’s second of the game. But when Patrick Sharp finally got the Hawks first power-play goal of the series at 11:19 it looked like Chicago might survive.
Once again the Bruins had other plans and once again Crawford’s weak glove hand was exposed. This time on a blast from the point by Johnny Boychuk, a rocket at 12:14 that would have handcuffed other goaltenders as well.
It meant a return to suddendeath overtime for the third time in this series. It also guaranteed that the Bruins would keep their streak of not having a regulationtime loss since May 12, Game 6 of that series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The action and the entertainment had almost no end Wednesday, particularly in the rollicking second period.
For the Blackhawks, it was Toews and Kane finally earning a spot on the game sheet with big goals. Twice the Hawks opened up two-goal leads and twice the Bruins brought it back to within one.
And if it wasn’t for a missed empty net by Chris Kelly and a huge Crawford save on Jaromir Jagr in the final minute, it all could have been tied.
Desperate to even the series up before returning home for Game 5, the Hawks came out inspired with an opening 10 minutes that eclipsed anything they had done in Game 3 here on Monday.
They were rewarded for it, too, when Michal Handzus finished off a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush at 6:48. The next time the Bruins went to the power play they evened it up when a weak wrister by Rich Peverley exposed Crawford’s dodgy glove hand.
That Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask finally surrendered a goal — his first in 129 minutes and 14 seconds — seemed to open the floodgates for the Hawks.
In came Toews, who deflected a point shot from Michal Rozsival in the second period for his first goal of the final and only second of the playoffs. Less than two minutes later, Kane outwaited Rask and put in a backhander to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.
For the first time since the third period of Game 7 against the Leafs in the opening round, the Bruins trailed by two goals.
Perhaps channelling that memory, Milan Lucic put in an easy rebound at 14:43 when he was left alone in front of the Hawks net. Less than a minute later, Marcus Kruger restored the two-goal margin for Chicago.
But there was plenty of business left in the middle period. Bergeron, with the lucky-bounce goal of the playoffs, brought it to 4-3 when a wild puck went off a body in front, off the end glass, off the top of the net and onto his stick. And then in the final minute, Kelly miraculously missed an empty net and Jagr was robbed from in tight.
Give Toews credit, he wasn’t about to lose himself in denial.
No goals in the Stanley Cup final and just one in the rest of the playoffs prior to Monday’s pivotal Game 4?
Unacceptable for Captain Serious. None in the previous 10 games overall and just one in the playoffs overall. You bet it was driving him crazy.
“Every waking moment it’s something you think about,” Toews said following the gameday skate. “You’ve just gotta be that guy that this time of year you don’t get denied.”
Just like his team.