Two Goals in 16 Seconds Give Blackhawks The Title

25 Jun, 2013

The Blackhawks celebrated their second Stanley Cup championship in four seasons on Monday night, coming from behind when Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 and take the best-of-seven series in six games.

“This goal, the ending – nobody saw it coming,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “You just hope. And we tied it up and the other one was icing on the cake. But nobody foresaw either one coming.

“That series and the pace that we just saw for six straight games was an amazing series,” he said. “Commend both teams for leaving it out there.”

Seventy-six seconds away from defeat and a trip home for a decisive seventh game, Bickell tied and, while the Bruins were settling in for another overtime in a series that has already had its share, Bolland scored to give Chicago the lead.

The back-to-back scores in about the time it takes for one good rush down the ice turned a near-certain loss into a championship clincher, stunning Boston’s players and their fans, and starting the celebration on the Blackhawks’ bench with 59 seconds to play.

“We thought we were going home for Game 7. You still think you’re going to overtime and you’re going to try to win it there. Then Bolly scores a huge goal 17 seconds later,” said Chicago forward Patrick Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s most valuable player. “It feels like the last 58 seconds were an eternity.”

The team that set an NHL record with a 24-game unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season won three straight after falling behind 2-1 in the finals, rallying from a deficit in the series and in its finale. Corey Crawford made 23 saves, and Jonathan Toews returned from injury to add a goal and an assist in the first finals between Original Six teams since 1979.

“I still can’t believe that finish. Oh, my God, we never quit,” Crawford said. “I never lost confidence. No one in our room ever did.”

Trailing 2-1 with Crawford sent off for an extra skater, the Blackhawks converted when Toews fed it in front and Bickell scored from the edge of the crease to tie the score.

Perhaps the Bruins expected it to go to overtime, as three of the first four games in the series did. They seemed to be caught off-guard on the ensuing faceoff.

Chicago skated into the zone and Johnny Oduya sent a shot on net that deflected off Michael Frolik and the post before landing right in front of Bolland.

He chipped it in, and the Blackhawks knew it was over.

The Chicago players who’d been on the ice gathered in the corner, while those on the bench began jumping up and down. It was only a minute later, with Boston’s Tuukka Rask off for an extra man, that the Blackhawks withstood the final push and swarmed over the boards, throwing their sticks and gloves across the ice.

The Bruins got 28 saves from Rask, who was hoping to contribute to an NHL title after serving as Tim Thomas’ backup when Boston won it all two years ago.

The Blackhawks opened the season on a 21-0-3 streak and coasted to the Presidents’ Trophy that goes to the team with the best regular-season record. But regular-season excellence has not translated into playoff success: Chicago is the first team with the best record to win the Cup since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings.

AP

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