Blackhawks, Red Wings Close In On Next Round
Chris Chelios scored 6:22 into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night and a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
The Blackhawks can wrap up the series with a victory in Game 4 on Saturday at the Pacific Coliseum.
Chelios, who had turned the puck over on Russ Courtnall’s second goal for Vancouver in the third period, worked his way around goaltender Kirk McLean on a two-on-one rush following a series of scoring chances for both teams.
Chicago forced overtime when Murray Craven scored with 45 seconds left in the third period on a passout from Jeremy Roenick.
Courtnall scored the first of his two goals in a shorthanded situation with 1:44 left in the first period to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. The Blackhawks tied it 15 seconds later on a power-play goal by Patrick Poulin.
Courtnall scored at 12:34 of the third to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead before Craven scored his tying goal.
In the overtime period, Chicago goaltender Ed Belfour stopped Courtnall on another breakaway after McLean had stopped Tony Amonte.
Joe Murphy of the Blackhawks hit the post moments before the winner.
Vancouver outshot the Blackhawks 34-26.
The third period was one of the best in the series as Vancouver pressed to get back into the series. Twice the Canucks had goals disallowed by referee Don Koharski, once when Trevor Linden gloved the puck into the net and the second with a quick whistle.
Courtnall put Vancouver ahead 2-1 after Chelios passed behind Roenick, allowing Courtnall to break free at the Chicago blue line.
Craven got the 2-2 goal at 19:15, but was clearly in the goal crease. Koharski allowed the goal.
The scoreless first period featured five Chicago power plays as the Canucks tried a more physical approach and took several needless penalties.
McLean was particularily sharp in the first when he stopped six shots during a two-man Chicago advantage for one minute and 22 seconds.
Blackhawks 3, Canucks 2 (OT)
Vancouver
Chicago 1 0 1 1 - 3
Vancouver 1 0 1 0 - 2
First Period-1, Vancouver, R.Courtnall 3 (Lumme), 18:16 (sh). 2, Chicago, Poulin 4 (Amonte, Diduck), 18:31 (pp).
Second Period-None.
Third Period-3, Vancouver, R.Courtnall 4, 12:34. 4, Chicago, Craven 4 (Roenick, Chelios), 19:15.
Overtime-5, Chicago, Chelios 2 (Nicholls, Murphy), 6:22.
Shots on goal-Chicago 12-6-4-3-25. Vancouver 10-5-16-3-34.Power-play Opp.-Chicago 1 of 8; Vancouver 0 of 4. Goalies-Chicago, Belfour 7-3 (34 shots-32 saves). Vancouver, McLean 4-6 (25-22).A-13,106 (16,150).
Red Wings 6, Sharks 2
San Jose
Vyacheslav Kozlov scored twice as Detroit continued their thrashing of San Jose and took a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
The Red Wings, who have outscored the Sharks 18-4 in the series, can wrap up a spot in the conference finals by winning Game 4 Saturday in San Jose.
Detroit outshot the Sharks 36-12. Two of the Sharks’ shots were soft clearing passes from their own end, meaning San Jose got only 10 shots from Detroit’s half of the ice. The Sharks got just one shot on six power plays.
The Red Wings, who also got goals from Ray Sheppard, Sergei Fedorov, Dino Ciccarelli and Darren McCarty, have outshot the Sharks 115-44 in the series.
Both San Jose goals came in the final 11 minutes. Ray Whitney ended Mike Vernon’s bid for his second shutout of the series on a 15-foot shot from in front with 10:57 left, and Sergei Makarov scored on a backhander with 8:16 left.
Detroit 2 1 3 - 6
San Jose 0 0 2 - 2
First period-1, Detroit, Sheppard 3 (Primeau), 15:08. 2, Detroit, Kozlov 4 (Fedorov, Brown), 15:51.
Second period-3, Detroit, Kozlov 5 (Yzerman), 15:49.
Third period-4, Detroit, Fedorov 4 (Kozlov, Rouse), :19. 5, Detroit, McCarty 2 (Lidstrom), 1:38. 6, San Jose, Whitney 3 (Ozolinsh), 9:03. 7, San Jose, Makarov 3 (Ozolinsh, Larionov), 11:44. 8, Detroit, Ciccarelli 7, 18:27.
Shots on goal-Detroit 13-12-11-36. San Jose 3-2-7-12.Power-play opp.-Detroit 0 of 3; San Jose 0 of 6.Goalies-Detroit, Vernon 7-1 (12 shots-10 saves). San Jose, Flaherty 2-2 (36-30).A-17,190 (17,190).
xxxx STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS Today’s games Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) Pittsburgh at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)