Anaheim 5, Chicago 4
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, May 25, 2015
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Referees:
Brad Watson, Eric Furlatt
Linesmen:
Derek Amell, Brian Murphy
Attendance:
17286
By The Sports Xchange
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After a massive swing of emotions in a short period of ice time, the Anaheim Ducks are on the verge of the Stanley Cup finals.
Left winger Matt Beleskey scored 45 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks rebounded from blowing a late lead to earn a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
Anaheim grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series despite allowing Chicago to rally from a two-goal deficit in the last two minutes of regulation on a pair of goals by center Jonathan Toews.
"That's hockey. It's not for the faint of heart," Ducks center Ryan Kesler said. "We like to make things interesting in here. The thing is that we got mad, then we came in here and finished the job."
On the winning play, Kesler and Beleskey came down on a two-on-one rush. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford stopped Kesler's shot, but the rebound fell right to Beleskey, who fired it into a nearly vacated net. Beleskey then went soaring over Crawford in a scene reminiscent of Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Boston Bruins in 1970.
"That's the biggest goal I've ever scored," Beleskey said. "We're one game away from a Stanley Cup berth."
Game 6 is Wednesday in Chicago. If necessary, Game 7 would be played Saturday in Anaheim.
Defensemen Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen, Kesler and left winger Patrick Maroon also scored for Anaheim. Vatanen and Kesler each had an assist, and center Ryan Getzlaf and right winger Jakob Silfverberg contributed two assists apiece.
Center Teuvo Teravainen and defenseman Brent Seabrook each had a goal and an assist for Chicago, which got two assists from left winger Patrick Sharp.
Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen made 24 saves, while Crawford stopped 23 shots. At least two of the goals against Andersen were plays that left him pining for a mulligan.
"He's bailed us out so often," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It was time that we bailed him out. He'll be back to his normal, regular, great self in two days."
With Anaheim ahead 4-2, Toews revived Chicago by scoring with 1:50 play. He added another goal with 38 seconds to go in the third period.
"Johnny came up with two gigantic goals and gave us a chance to win," Chicago coach Joel Queeneville said of his two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time Stanley Cup champion center. "His career and big-game goals, Johnny will let them speak for themselves."
The Ducks darted out to an early lead, scoring two goals in 32 seconds during the first period. They scored three in 37 seconds in Game 4.
First, at 5:10, center Nate Thompson reversed the puck from the right corner to the left point for Fowler, who skated into a shot from the high slot and scored. Then, at 5:42, Silfverberg lobbed a shot toward the slot, where it was redirected successfully by Kesler. The goal between Crawford's legs prompted Chicago to use its timeout.
"It seemed like they were skating faster and winning more battles to start the game," Sharp said."Three-nothing is a tough hole to climb out of, but to battle back and force overtime shows the belief that we have in each other."
Anaheim extended its advantage at 14:37 of the first period. Getzlaf pulled an offensive-zone faceoff back cleanly to Vatanen, whose slap shot beat Crawford.
The Ducks had three goals before the Blackhawks had their first shot on goal, which came 16:26 into the opening period.
Chicago would strike back as Teravainen sent a soft wrist shot on net that hit Andersen and banked into the cage just 1:11 into the second period.
With 25 seconds left in the period, the Blackhawks slashed their deficit to one. Seabrook crept from his defense position all the way down to the bottom of the right faceoff dot, where he buried the picturesque Teravainen pass he received from behind the net.
Top Game Performances
| Chicago |
|
Anaheim |
|
Jonathan Toews 2 |
Points |
Ryan Kesler 2 |
|
Jonathan Toews 2 |
Goals |
Ryan Kesler 1 |
|
Patrick Sharp 2 |
Assists |
Ryan Getzlaf 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Corey Crawford .821 |
Save Percentage |
Frederik Andersen .857 |
|
Corey Crawford 23 |
Saves |
Frederik Andersen 24 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Chicago
|
28 |
4 |
0-2 |
2-2 |
4 |
26 |
| Anaheim
|
28 |
5 |
0-2 |
2-2 |
4 |
39 |
Upcoming Games
-
Anaheim will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Ducks have a W/L % of .647 after a win and .581 after a loss.
-
Chicago will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Blackhawks have a W/L % of .521 after a win and .676 after a loss.
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