ference semifinals.
“Going out there 3-1 would have been tough,” Chicago’s Dave Bolland said.
The Blackhawks won’t have to worry about that now.
Martin Havlat’s wrist shot from between the circles sailed past Luongo to tie the game with 2:44 left. And less than 3 minutes into overtime Thursday night, Bolland’s long attempt from beyond the right circle reached the net and teammate Andrew Ladd was there to tip it in for a 2-1 victory.
What looked like a sure loss turned into an emotional win for the Blackhawks, tying the series at 2-2 headed back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Saturday night. Chicago’s victory ensured there will be a Game 6 back at the United Center on Monday night.
“We played the game we wanted to until there at the end,” said Luongo, who finished with 26 saves. “There were 2 minutes left in the game and you don’t want to lose a game like that. It’s still a series and the first team to get to four. We’ve got to put this one behind us and get ready for Saturday.”
Ladd assisted on Havlat’s goal by digging the puck off the boards.
And then he found the perfect position in overtime – right in front of Luongo.
“Bolland has great patience with the puck,” Ladd said. “He turned around, saw my stick and got it to the right spot. We’ve got a little momentum here and can take it back to Vancouver.”
saves in overtime, Bolland chased down the puck along the boards at the other end and got it to Ladd.
“It was a shot from the half wall. Ladd was right in front of me,” Luongo said.
“It was coming fast from the outside of the net. I extended my leg and he tipped it in the five-hole, so it was a good play by him.”
Darcy Hordichuk took a pass from a spinning Rick Rypien to score his first playoff goal midway through the second period to put the Canucks ahead – the fourth straight game Vancouver opened the scoring.
And Luongo again appeared too tough for the Blackhawks to crack. After allowing eight goals in two games at Vancouver, Luongo gave up just one in Game 3 and looked on his way to a shutout before Havlat tied it.
“A huge comeback for us. We’re right back in the series now,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.
“We were a couple of minutes away from winning this game, but we made four mistakes on the same play and the puck ended up in the back of our net,” Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said of Havlat’s goal.
“Turnover, two forwards were out of position and the D-men froze and didn’t close in quick enough on the guy in the slot. We got to deal with and get ready for the next game.”
made a sprawling pad save to deny Patrick Sharp.
Chicago came out with a strong early rush and Luongo had five saves in the first 6 minutes, including another nice pad stop of Toews’ point-blank attempt just as a power play was expiring.
Khabibulin finished with 14 saves.
Red Wings 6, Ducks 3
At Anaheim, Calif., Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa each scored twice to help Detroit even the Western Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.
After Franzen, who also assisted on Hossa’s first goal, scored two first-period goals, Hossa broke a 2-2 tie with goals in a 3:05 span of the second period.
Mikael Samuelsson also scored, Henrik Zetterberg added an empty-netter, and Valterri Filppula had two assists for the Red Wings.
Chris Osgood made 25 saves for Detroit, while the Red Wings were able to chase Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller after Samuelsson’s goal early in the third.
Corey Perry had two goals and an assist for Anaheim. Scott Niedermayer also scored, and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.
Game 5 is Sunday in Detroit.
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