Vermette scores winning goal, Blackhawks beat Ducks 5-4
It's a best-of-three series now.
Antoine Vermette scored at 5:37 of the second overtime as the Blackhawks survived a furious third-period comeback by Anaheim and walked out of the United Center with a 5-4 victory Saturday night.
The series is deadlocked at 2-2 with Game 5 in Anaheim on Monday.
Anaheim had erased a 3-1 deficit in 37 seconds with goals by Ryan Kesler, Matt Beleskey and Corey Perry at 8:42, 9:05 and 9:19 of the third period. It was the second-fastest 3-goal burst in NHL playoff history and the fastest ever against the Hawks in the playoffs.
The only time a team scored 3 playoff goals faster than Anaheim did was in 1979 when Toronto did it in 23 seconds. Hawks coach Joel Quenneville recorded an assist on the third goal.
Brandon Saad scored short-handed, and Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane scored third-period goals for the Blackhawks .
Seabrook's goal had given the Hawks a 3-1 lead, but that only lasted 64 seconds before Kesler scored to make it 3-2.
After Anaheim grabbed a 4-3 lead on Perry's goal, Kane scored just 3:20 later on the power play for his ninth goal of the playoffs and second of the series.
Before the game, Jonathan Toews was asked if this was a must win for the Hawks.
“We have a good opportunity to even the series at home,” Toews said, “and we know that there's still another level we can get to and we're working to get there. We've just got to have fun and make the best of it. We've got the ability, we've got the guys in here that they can do the job.”
Saad gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 19:13 of the first period when he scored short-handed. Saad, who took advantage of Francois Beauchemin getting tangled up with an official, outraced Kesler down ice and beat goalie Frederik Andersen. It was Saad's fourth goal of the playoffs.
Anaheim had tied the game up late in the second period, but Toews made it 2-1 at the 2:38 mark of the third. After Frederik Andersen gave up a rebound of a Marian Hossa shot, Toews collected the puck, patiently waited a second and ripped it past Andersen. It was his fifth goal of the playoffs and Hossa's eighth assist.
The Hawks outplayed the Ducks from the start, outshooting them 14-6 in the first period. About two minutes before Saad's goal, Brad Richards had a golden opportunity to beat Andersen, but he lost control of the puck about 6-8 feet in front of the net.
Corey Crawford was rarely challenged, but Perry did get in alone midway through the first but failed to beat the Hawks' goalie with a backhander.
The Ducks tied it up on a goal by Emerson Eten at 18:14 of the second period. Niklas Hjalmarsson had tried to clear the puck, but Francois Beauchemin caught, then passed to Kyle Palmieri, who fired and the puck ended up re-directing off Eten.
Hjalmarsson and Keith, who combined for 7 of the Hawks' 9 giveaways through two periods, both appeared gassed on the shift that led to Eten's goal.
The Hawks had some good opportunities in the second period, including two by Marian Hossa. But the best may have been a blast off the stick of Seabrook that wound up hitting the left post.