Hawks dominate early, and finish it late

Sometimes the scoreboard doesn't do a team's dominance justice.

Though the Blackhawks uncorked 17 more shots than Philadelphia in regulation time, the Flyers found a way to push Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals into overtime.

It took a superlative singular effort by Patrick Kane - after a season-long stretch where so many merited all-star honors - for the Hawks finally to finish off the Flyers at 4:10 into overtime.

Seemingly on a mission to outperform their stunning first period in Game 5 at United Center, the Blackhawks uncorked 16 of the first 19 shots in Game 6.

Despite all of those dangerous chances and possession time, it led to just 1 Hawks goal.

When Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell tapped in a rebound with less than 30 seconds in the first period, the Flyers somehow owned a share of the lead even though the Hawks figuratively lapped them at Wachovia Center.

And when Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith tripped over Hartnell's skate at the blue line eight minutes into the second period, the Flyers seized the open ice and snagged a 2-1 lead.

Suddenly it looked like the Hawks, who led 21-9 in shots at that juncture, wouldn't reap the reward from all of their work.

But then one of Game 6's peculiar patterns started to work in the Hawks' favor - officials calling penalties immediately after goals - and that's when the Stanley Cup started to need some new names on its open silver band.

In the first period, the Hawks' Brent Seabrook picked up an elbowing penalty just 10 seconds after Dustin Byfuglien opened the scoring with a power-play goal.

And when the Flyers couldn't get an official shot with that advantage, the officials whistled Brent Sopel just 18 seconds later for an interference call that was well behind the Hawks' in-progress breakaway.

In the second period, those timely penalties worked in the Hawks' advantage.

Nine seconds after Danny Briere gave Philadelphia its 2-1 lead, the officials popped Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn for cross-checking Andrew Ladd.

The Hawks soon lost their power-play advantage when Marian Hossa was flagged for goaltender interference despite being submarined into goalie Michael Leighton by defenseman Kimmo Timonen.

Hossa complained, but the call made it a 4-on-4 game and allowed the Hawks to create a score.

Dustin Keith brought the puck up the left side and fed it neatly to Dave Bolland in the middle. Bolland sucked in a defender and passed to Patrick Sharp on the right. With an open look at the goal, Sharp wristed a shot through Leighton's legs for a 2-2 tie with 10:02 left in the second.

The Hawks seized a 3-2 lead before the second period ended and figured to control the momentum in the third, which they did. However, the Flyers struck with 3:59 left to send it to OT.