Byfuglien's goal in OT gives Hawks 3-0 series lead

It wasn't just any defensive lapse by the San Jose Sharks in overtime Friday night.

How in the world does everyone in white and teal miss 6-foot-4, 257-pound Dustin Byfuglien cruising the slot?

The Sharks did, and now they are on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference finals.

A wide-open Byfuglien fired home a pass from Dave Bolland behind the net 12:24 into OT to give the Hawks a 3-2 win at the United Center and a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Another victory Sunday afternoon and the Hawks are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992.

"I saw him out of the side on my eye and everyone was coming down," Bolland said. "Nobody can miss Buff. I saw him rushing down the middle."

The Sharks missed him. Even goalie Evgeni Nabokov got caught looking behind the net at Bolland, and by the time he saw Byfuglien the puck was high into the net.

"Bolland made a good play and just laid it out in the slot and all I had to do was finish," Byfuglien said.

"It was breakdown in D-zone coverage," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "They released it behind the net and we jumped down with our centerman Scottie (Nichol), and Byfuglien got lost out high.

"I don't know if we can blame one individual. We've got to be aware of the shooter. The guy behind the net is not dangerous and obviously the guy in the slot is."

Not to be forgotten was the goaltending of Antti Niemi, brilliant again with his second 44-save performance of the series.

The Sharks outshot the Hawks 46-38 and dominated in zone time through regulation.

"We were fortunate tonight," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Our goalie, you can use any adjective to describe him - great, spectacular. He made big saves. We were in our end a little too much tonight."

As great as Jonathan Toews has been in this series, and the captain had 2 more assists in the Game 3 win, Niemi has been the difference so far.

"Antti was awesome again," Patrick Sharp said. "He's been our MVP, I think. With all due respect to Johnny over there, Antti is making huge saves. It could have easily gone the other way."

Niemi has stopped 113 of 118 shots so far in the series.

"I've felt really good in all games," Niemi said. "I don't want to get too excited. We want to take the next step in the next game."

The Hawks were outshot 41-27 through regulation, including 18-6 in the third period, when the Sharks dominated a lot of the play.

It looked as if the Hawks might be in business when Bolland scored on a breakaway with 6:55 to play for a 2-1 lead, but Patrick Marleau answered for the Sharks with 4:23 left in regulation.

The puck was in the Chicago end for most of the third period as the Sharks played like a team that knew it needed to win to have a chance in the series.

"They had a few more things working for them," Hawks center John Madden said. "They played a really good game, much different than the two games in their building, and they made it difficult."

The Hawks hurt themselves in regulation with 6 minor penalties.

The Sharks were 1-for-6 on the power play through three periods and got a power-play goal from Marleau during a 5-on-3 early in the second.

"I thought our penalty-killers did a good job," Niemi said.

The lead lasted only until 6:59 of the second period when Sharp scored on a power off a nice feed from Toews.

The Hawks killed 3 straight penalties in the first 13 minutes of the third period.

"We had opportunities in the third period on the power play where we could have either got the lead or established ourselves in the game, and we didn't do that," McLellan said. "I'd like to see our power play a little sharper, but remember they're a very, very good penalty-killing team and have got this far because of it."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Game tracker</p>

<p class="News"><b>Three stars</b></p>

<p class="News">1. Antti Niemi, Hawks: His second 44-save performance of the Western Conference finals.</p>

<p class="News">2. Patrick Marleau, Sharks: Scored both San Jose goals and was dangerous all over the ice.</p>

<p class="News">3. Jonathan Toews, Hawks: The captain was great again with 2 assists, 6 take-aways and was 16-11 on faceoffs.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Big when it counted</b></p>

<p class="News">While Hawks center Dave Bolland took 2 penalties, he made a difference when it counted with a third-period goal and an assist on Dustin Byfuglien's OT winner.</p>

<p class="News"><b>The quote</b></p>

<p class="News">"Both teams played like it's already Game 7 tonight," - Hawks captain Jonathan Toews</p>

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<h1>More Coverage</h1>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=382713">Images of Blackhawks vs. Sharks, Game 3</a></li>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=382733"><b>ROZNER:</b> With thief in net, Hawks steal game<span class="date"> [5/22/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=382726">Bolland's game a lot more than just agitating<span class="date"> [5/22/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=382725">Even Sharks' best effort not enough to win<span class="date"> [5/22/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=382737">Toews breaks Mikita's mark<span class="date"> [5/22/10]</span></a></li>

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