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Kane helps Blackhawks pull off dramatic 2OT win

ST. LOUIS — Well, it's not over yet.

The never-say-die Blackhawks, with their backs against the wall Thursday night at Scottrade Center, pulled out a dramatic 4-3 double overtime victory over St. Louis in Game 5 to keep their first-round series — and championship dreams — alive for at least two more days.

The Hawks took a 3-1 lead in the second period on goals by Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin and went on to win despite allowing St. Louis to tie the game with a pair of third-period goals. The game-winner came when Patrick Kane followed his own shot by swooping around the back of the net.

The Hawks now trail the best-of-seven series 3-2 with Game 6 at the United Center at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“He's a clutch player. He's a great player,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “A lot of guys can't do what he did, or does. … You've got to give him credit because he's special with everything on the line.”

Said Kane: “Maybe it was my turn to step up tonight and do something there in overtime which I've been waiting a lot longer than I should. It's a good feeling, keeps us alive, go back home now and it's going to be exciting playing a Game 6 in our building.”

Quenneville, desperate to save his team's season, decided to pull out what Hawks fans know as the “nuclear option” by putting Jonathan Toews and Kane together on the top line.

The Hawks went up 1-0 thanks to a shorthanded tally by Hossa at 11:32 of the second. The lead lasted all of 57 seconds, though, as Jaden Schwartz beat Crawford on a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle with St. Louis on the power play.

Artem Anisimov restored the Hawks' lead when he knocked in a rebound of an Artemi Panarin shot with 4:36 left in the second. Incredibly, Panarin made it 3-1 on a shot that sailed past Brian Elliott with just 0:00.4 remaining.

That sequence began with the Hawks taking an offensive zone draw with 7.3 seconds on the clock. Toews lost the faceoff, but he managed to get to a loose puck along the boards and shuffled it Kane, who zipped a pass through the crease to Panarin. The rookie sent a one-timer past Elliott that barely beat the horn.

St. Louis closed the gap to 3-2 when Robbi Fabbri wove through the Hawks defense and wristed a shot that beat Crawford at 6:57 of the third period. David Backes then tied it with 5:10 on the clock by sweeping a loose puck past Crawford.

“Obviously it feels good,” said Duncan Keith, who played 42 minutes. “I don't know if that's the way we drew it up. It would have been nice to just hang onto that lead. But Kaner came through.”

It was Kane's fifth career overtime goal in the postseason and it was a thing of beauty. Taking a pass from Richard Panik, Kane completely undressed Troy Brouwer, slid between a pair of Blues and somehow got off a shot that Elliott turned away.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the puck squirted to Elliott's right, Kane raced to it and slid it in before the Blues knew what hit them.

“I was trying to tell myself to play with confidence and I wasn't very good the first four periods,” said Kane, who snapped a seven-game goal-scoring drought against the Blues. “(Panik) made a great pass to me there in the slot. (I) tried to make a move, get something on the net.

“I was fortunate enough to see it squeak over to the side there and try to jam it in.”

Last year, Kane and Toews were paired up early in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against Anaheim, then they started Game 7 together on the top line. The Hawks won both games and went on to claim their third title in six years.

The question is can they beat St. Louis again? And again?

Because that's what it's going to take — two more victories to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

The Hawks have faced a 3-1 series deficit 13 times in franchise history and climbed out of it only once — in 2013 when they eliminated the hated Red Wings at the United Center on a Brent Seabrook goal in overtime.

They also now own an incredible 12-3 record in elimination games since 2010, but it will have to reach 14-3 for the Hawks to advance.

“We're excited now to head back to try and get another win,” Keith said. “That's all it is, is one win. That's all we're focused on now.”

Three stars from Game 5 of Blackhawks-Blues series

1. Patrick Kane, Blackhawks. Scores game-winning goal in overtime and also feeds Artemi Panarin for crucial score late in second period.

2. Artemi Panarin, Blackhawks. Scores with four-tenths of a second to go in second period and adds an assist on Hawks' second goal.

3. Corey Crawford, Blackhawks. Netminder was far from perfect, but he made some flat-out spectacular saves, especially in overtime. Finished with 43 saves on the night.

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