Blackhawks 4, Canucks 3 (OT)
Ben Smith's goal 15:30 into overtime lifted the Chicago Blackhawks to a thrilling 4-3 win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series Sunday.
Smith pounced on a rebound of a Niklas Hjalmarsson point shot and flipped it over fallen Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo, evening the best-of-seven series 3-3. The defending-champion Blackhawks can complete a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit with a win in Game 7 on Tuesday in Vancouver.
Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa scored in regulation for the Canucks, while Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland and Michael Frolik, on a penalty shot, countered for the Blackhawks.
Moments after Bieksa put the Canucks in front for a third time in the opening minute of the third period, Frolik was hauled down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Frolik went from backhand and forehand and beat surprise Vancouver starter Cory Schneider on the blocker side, with Schneider injuring his leg after stretching in vain to make the save.
That prompted Luongo, who spent the majority of the game in the tunnel leading to the dressing room, to make his way out to the ice as Blackhawks fans serenaded him with boos.
Sedin opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game, converting a wraparound attempt past Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford. Chicago evened things up at 14:57, but Burrows restored Vancouver's lead with his first of the postseason just under four minutes later.
Chicago failed to convert on a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity midway through the second, but capitalized on a Vancouver blunder to tie the game at 15:08. Schneider went to play the puck behind the Vancouver net but fed it directly to a waiting Kane, whose centering pass was fired by Bolland into an empty net.