On elimination night, Chicago finds way to force game seven
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Will the Vancouver Canucks become the 2011 Stanley Cup version of the Boston Bruins?
Canucks fans will find out Tuesday at the Rogers Centre after Ben Smith scored on a rebound at 15:30 of overtime to power the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over Vancouver in game six of the Western Conference series Sunday in the Windy City.
The series is tied 3-3 as Chicago rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
Smith, a rookie, followed in a long, hard shot from the point by teammate Niklas Hjalmarsson that bounced off goalie Roberto Luongo.
Luongo, who didn’t start the game but was called upon in the third period when Cory Schneider had to be helped off the ice when he was injured as he tried to stop Michael Frolik’s penalty shot that tied it at 3-3, had very little work to do in the overtime period as the Canucks pressed for the winner.
Daniel Sedin, Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieska scored for the Canucks.
Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland added goals for the Blackhawks, who held off Vancouver dominating performance in the third and overtime periods when the Canucks appeared ready to win the game and end the series.
NOTES: The goal by Alex Burrows was his first of the series. … Chicago captain Jonathan Toews is still without a goal. … Chicago is attempting to send the Canucks to the golf course for the third consecutive season. …Chicago’s Brent Seabrook, out for two games following a hard shoulder-to-head hit from Raffi Torres in Game 3, was back in the lineup for game six. …Vancouver played without the services of defenceman Sami Salo for most of the game.
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