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CHICAGO -- After the Anaheim Ducks' second goal in 23 seconds during a wild third period Saturday, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville used his timeout to try to refocus his team. Fourteen seconds later, Anaheim scored again. Three goals in 37 seconds to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead in the fourth game of the Western Conference finals. What was going through Quenneville’s head at that time? Or at least the PG version? “I thought it was the worst timeout I ever called,” Quenneville said with a laugh. “They scored right away, and I’m sitting there, ‘Oh my god, we don’t have a timeout, and we’re down a goal. And there’s 10 minutes to go in the game.’ But our group finds ways. It was one of those stretches where our guys find ways instead of looking for the out. It’s an amazing group, and tonight is a good illustration of it.” In truth, if he hadn't brought it up, few would’ve remembered Quenneville’s timeout during the madness of a six-goal period or after Antoine Vermette scored in the second overtime in Chicago's typically dramatic 5-4 victory. The series is tied 2-2. Three goals in less than a minute isn't a coaching debacle, and it's up to the players to rebound from that kind of scare. As usual, the Blackhawks, burnishing their reputation as the NHL’s most consistent winners, did just that by answering the Ducks’ surge with a tying goal and holding off Anaheim to win in the second overtime.  Some teams wouldn't be able to handle the highs and lows. Not only did the Blackhawks give up three goals in the time it takes me to write a pithy tweet about one, but the flurry also started less than a minute after Brent Seabrook scored Chicago’s second goal of the third to give his team a fleeting 3-1 lead.
“I think a lot of teams wouldn't feel too good about themselves,” Jonathan Toews said. “I think we did a great job of staying calm, collecting ourselves. It is what it is. You can't change that. You have to move forward, find a way to get yourself back in the game. “It's moments like that when things don't go your way, they swing the other way. For a minute there, it's looking pretty good, you know. I think we had the character and the poise to relax and calm ourselves down, make a game of it, find a way to get back into it.” This is why people love the Blackhawks -- and not just in Chicago. The Blackhawks live up to their hype. Three minutes, 20 seconds after Corey Perry scored right in front of the net to give Anaheim its first lead of the game, Patrick Kane answered with a power-play goal, a pinball shot off Frederik Andersen's leg pad. The next goal took a little longer to show up. Five-and-a-half minutes into the second overtime -- which is downright early for a Blackhawks OT game -- Vermette followed his own rebound to tie the series. The Blackhawks are now 4-0 in overtime games this postseason. All four have been double- or triple-overtime. “We have that experience,” Kane said. “We’ve been in this situation before. I think everyone is accustomed and used to playing these types of games, whether it’s going to overtime or tight games. It seems like we’ve been in this situation a lot.”  “Obviously, when we get into late overtime periods, I think we have a feeling as a group that we're going to find a way to win,” Toews said.
The Ducks' scoring binge could’ve buried a lesser team or a shakier goalie. But Corey Crawford, who survived a temporary benching in the first round of these playoffs, was able to shake it off. “It’s pretty frustrating as a goalie,” the Blackhawks netminder said. “But then again, you’re just trying to focus on the next shot and not dwell on it too much. I mean, I can’t lie either, it was kind of in the back of my mind for a little bit, and then I was able to erase it going into overtime.” That’s an understatement. Crawford (47 saves) stopped 17 shots in the first overtime period, some by lucky bounce alone, while Chicago only managed five shots on Andersen. The Ducks got four more shots before Vermette’s winner in the second overtime period. Vermette was inactive in the previous game, a 2-1 loss and the Blackhawks’ only home playoff defeat this year. Quenneville, who was criticized equally by hockey experts and novices, brought him back, along with the frisky Teuvo Teravainen. “I'm glad he finished it for us,” Quenneville said. “That was a huge goal for us. Huge goal.” The late drama overshadowed a strong start by the Blackhawks and a great game by the Monsters of the Midway line of Brandon Saad, Toews and Marian Hossa. Saad, a Pittsburgh native, got the scoring started with a long skate reminiscent of “Fast” Willie Parker’s 2006 Super Bowl touchdown. OK, maybe it just reminded me of that run. Saad, who hadn’t scored in this series, got some daylight when Francois Beauchemin bumped into referee Chris Rooney, and Saad finished over a pesky Ryan Kesler. Toews notched his first goal of the series to open up the third period’s scoring. A loss Saturday would’ve put the Blackhawks in a 3-1 hole going to Anaheim for Monday's Game 5. Instead, the Blackhawks, now 6-1 at home in the postseason, feel great about their lot. Lucky and good is a way to go through life. “We just keep going,” Toews said. “I think it's just a feeling [that] we're eventually going to find that break. We've seen it so far. Hopefully, we can continue to work for those bounces.”
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