How it happened: Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal with 8:20 left in the second overtime to put the finishing touches on a hat trick and a dramatic Game 5. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the game’s first six minutes with goals by Duncan Keith and Kane, but they allowed the Kings to tie it with a short-handed goal in the second period and a power-play goal in the third period. The Blackhawks regained the lead when Bryan Bickell knocked over Kings forward Justin Williams behind the net, gathered the puck and found Kane for a goal at 16:08. But the Kings weren’t done. After an icing call with 15 seconds remaining in the third period, the Kings won the faceoff, got the puck to Anze Kopitar, who shot it and Mike Richards redirected the puck into the net with 9.4 seconds left to tie the game and force the first overtime. Kopitar and Dwight King also scored goals for the Kings. It was the longest game in the Kings’ franchise history. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made 33 saves, and Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 31 saves.
Player of the game: Kane hadn’t scored in the series prior to Game 4, and he said he needed to do more. Well, he did more; a lot more. He scored once in Game 4 and three more times in Game 5. He has six goals in the playoffs.
What it means: The Blackhawks eliminated the Kings in five games and are heading to the Stanley Cup finals for the 12th time in their franchise history. They’ve won four Stanley Cups, with their last one coming in 2010.
What’s next: The Blackhawks will host the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday. It will mark the first time Original Six teams have met in the Stanley Cup final since 1979 when the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens faced other. Such matchups have happened six times since the 1967-68 expansion, but all came between 1971-79.
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