Blackhawks’ Rally Buries Avalanche

Sergei Krivokrasov’s NHL career has been one disappointment after another, filled with injuries, ineffectiveness and inadequacies.

Then came Monday night, when he was the ultimate right man in the right place at the right time.

Shifted to the top line after Tony Amonte suffered a third-period injury, Krivokrasov scored 46 seconds into overtime, lifting the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

It was the first playoff goal ever for Krivokrasov, a 22-year-old Russian who rarely played after spraining his knee Jan. 31. Chicago’s first-round draft pick in 1992, he had only 19 goals in 100 career games.

Krivokrasov had been skating on the fourth line until Amonte, one of Chicago’s best players, went out with a knee injury with 8:06 left in regulation.

“Before the overtime, I … sat in the locker room and had a feeling I would score the winning goal,” he said. “I can’t really tell you why, but I did. This is the biggest goal, the biggest moment, of my life.”

The Blackhawks, who won the opener 3-2 on Roenick’s overtime goal, took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. They can win it with victories in Chicago on Wednesday and at Colorado on Saturday.

Second-period goals by Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci and Joe Sakic put Colorado in command before Murphy scored on a controversial play with 36.6 seconds left in the period.

Murphy wristed a shot past Roy, who was screened by Murray Craven. The upset goalie argued with referee Terry Gregson that the score should have been disallowed because Craven was in the goal crease. Though television replays confirmed that Roy was correct, the play is not reviewable under NHL rules and the goal stood.

“Terry Gregson is a good referee and a good person,” Roy said. “It was a human call. I don’t want to blame the ref. Why can’t we review a goal from the crease? You can’t have (video review) for just one or two things. We all want to win the Stanley Cup and we get mad when these things happen. We tried to keep our focus, but they were back in the game.”

Blackhawks 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)

Colorado 0 3 0 0 - 3

Chicago 1 1 1 1 - 4

First Period-1, Chicago, Suter 2 (Roenick, Daze), 10:39 (pp).

Second Period-2, Colorado, Forsberg 5 (Kamensky), 4:31. 3, Colorado, Ricci 2 (Yelle, Ozolinsh), 12:53. 4, Colorado, Sakic 10 (Lemieux, Ricci), 18:37 (pp). 5, Chicago, Murphy 5, 19:23.

Third Period-6, Chicago, Roenick 4 (Craven), 6:48.

Overtime-7, Chicago, Krivokrasov 1 (Daze), :46.

Shots on goal-Colorado 8-7-6-0-21. Chicago 5-11-8-1-25.Power-play opp.-Colorado 1 of 4; Chicago 1 of 4.Goalies-Colorado, Roy 5-4 (25 shots-21 saves). Chicago, Belfour 6-0 (21-18).A-20,797 (20,500).