Patrick Kane was invisible through 4 games of this series, but came alive in game 5 with 4 assists and was clutch for the Chicago Blackhawks in forcing a game 7 showdown with the Los Angeles Kings. Kane had two goals, including the game winner, and added an assist for the Hawks who fended off for the second time in this series.
It wasn’t a goaltending hightlight reel, as most of the goals were simple wrist shots, although to give Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford a little credit, most of them were through substantial traffic.
Kane scored the first goal for the Hawks to tie it up in the second period after Dwight Kings had staked the Kings to a 1-0 lead late in the first, and Ben Smith added one just over a minute and a half later to give the Chicago Blackhawks the lead.
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Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez scored just over two minutes apart to tie the game and put the Kings up by one respectively in the early stages of the third, but couldn’t hold on as Duncan Keith tied it up and then Kane notched the winner with less than 4 minutes left.
The Kings had opportunities to send the game to overtime with a late flurry, but Crawford held strong and the Blackhawks forced the deciding game back in Chicago on Sunday. Something will have to give, as the Hawks are 13-0 in games 5,6 & 7 over the past two playoff seasons, while the Kings are 6-0 when facing elimination in this year’s playoffs alone.