Hawks tie it with 2 seconds left, then win in OT

For more than 59 minutes Saturday night at the United Center, Dallas Stars rookie goaltender Tobias Stephen stopped everything the Blackhawks threw at him.

But in a dramatic turn of events, the Hawks got the tying goal from Robert Lang with two seconds left in regulation, then won 2-1 in overtime on Jason Williams' slap shot past Stephen 43 second into the extra session.

Both goals came on power plays -- Lang's with the Hawks enjoying a 6-on-3 advantage after goalie Patrick Lalime was pulled for an extra attacker.

The Hawks (3-2) outshot the Stars 40-18 in winning their second straight.

"What I admired most is our guys never gave up," said Hawks coach Denis Savard. "This was a gritty win for us, a character win, whatever you want to call it. Our guys just kept going and going and going, and never stopped."

Lang's goal came when Jonathan Toews' turnaround slap shot from the deep slot hit him on the shoulder and bounced past Stephen.

"It hit me right on the arm," Lang said. "Those are the ones you don't really count on, but the timing was perfect."

Rookies Toews and Patrick Kane were sensational in the victory. Kane assisted on Williams' winner that came with Toews screening the goalie in front.

Kane played more than 21 minutes and Toews more than 19. It was Kane who drew a hooking penalty on the Stars' Mike Modano with 27 seconds to play, giving the Hawks a 5-on-3 advantage.

That also was the penalty that carried over into overtime.

Toews showed the poise of a veteran when he turned and fired the puck at the net with the clock winding down in regulation.

"The play was going for a while and everyone was yelling to shoot, so I just let her rip," Toews said. "I guess if you just put it at the net, sometimes it finds a way to get in there.

"I didn't even see how much time was left until we were celebrating."

The Hawks had a 20-4 advantage in shots in the third period.

"We just tried to stick with the game plan because we knew we were getting our chances," Williams said. "We kept shooting and shooting and shooting. We knew eventually maybe one would go in."

Savard adjusted the forechecking scheme in the third period and it paid off.

"We made a few adjustments after the second and I think it helped us to get on the puck more, quicker," Savard said. "We had to because Dallas is a tough team to come back on."

The Hawks wasted a great chance to jump on top early when the Stars took 3 hooking penalties in the game's first 3½ minutes. Twice the Hawks had a 5-on-3 advantage and couldn't score.

Dallas took advantage of its first power play, cashing in at 13:48 of the first period with Kane serving a hooking penalty on a goal by Brenden Morrow.

• Hawks winger Rene Bourque left the game after tweaking his groin and will be examined further today.

• A Hawks source said it was looking as if Martin Havlat would not need surgery on his injured shoulder.

The Hawks have all five opinions from the five doctors that examined Havlat but have yet to reveal the consensus.

If Havlat does not have surgery he could be back in the lineup in 4-5 weeks following a period of rehab.

• Center Yanic Perreault sat out with a charley horse suffered in Friday's win at Detroit. Defensemen Jim Vandermeer and Danny Richmond were healthy scratches. Vandermeer, whom the Hawks re-signed as a restricted free agent during the off-season for one year at $1.2 million, sat for the second game in a row.

• Nikolai Khabibulin's strong start has him among the league leaders in several departments for goaltenders. Khabibulin was seventh in goals-against average (1.98) and ninth in save percentage (.932) entering Saturday's action.