The Chicago Blackhawks continued a pair of characteristic patterns when they won Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night, 2-1, in overtime.
The win completed a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit against the Detroit Red Wings. It improved them to 3-0 when facing elimination from the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and 2-0 when they have had a chance to end a series in this tournament.
It finished their eighth triumph out of 11 playoff series since the start of the 2008-09 season, when Jonathan Toews assumed the captaincy and Joel Quenneville stepped behind the bench as head coach.
The Blackhawks polished off their cathartic conquest of the upset-minded Wings after letting a 1-0 lead evaporate early in the third period of Game 7. They cultivated the deciding sudden-death strike via Brent Seabrook on the other side of an intermission that was effectively necessitated by a controversial call that negated a would-be winner by Niklas Hjalmarsson within the final two minutes of regulation.
As USA Today’s Kevin Allen reported after the fact, “Toews addressed the team after regulation, simply reminding everyone that l ...
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Article written by Al Daniel
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