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CHICAGO -- Twelve hours before Antoine Vermette scored the biggest goal of his career 5:37 into double overtime, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was standing at his dressing stall talking about the things that separate teams at this stage of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He spoke of the will to win and acknowledged that it was a cliché but that he didn’t have any other way to describe it. But maybe it’s not a cliché when it’s something that is part of a team’s DNA. Because about 12 hours after Toews tried to describe those wispy intangibles, his team proved it understands exactly what he was saying in coming up with a 5-4 double-overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks, which the Blackhawks absolutely needed to keep their Stanley Cup dreams a reality. The Blackhawks endured an improbable three-goal Ducks onslaught in a 37-second span in the third period, an onslaught that erased a 3-1 Chicago lead. And they withstood a further onslaught from the Ducks in overtime, being outshot 21-7, before Vermette found the back of the net from a sharp angle with just his second shot of the night. "I think we worked hard to get to where we were in the third period with a 3-1 lead. I guess when it rains it pours, in some moments, especially today for us in the third. I think a lot of teams wouldn't feel too good about themselves," said a still-sweaty Toews, who scored his first goal of the series Saturday to break a five-game goalless drought. "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. 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." If there was one person who personified that will to win, that belief in the collective when in the face of adversity, it was Vermette, who was inexplicably scratched for Game 3. He watched that Game 3 loss from the locker room, working out with some of the other scratches. "The emotion, it's not a pleasant one," Vermette said. "As a proud competitor, like anybody else on this team, you want to be part of the team. You think you can help the team. I think that's a natural emotion to get. At the same time, very supportive of the group. "Hopeful we get a couple more wins here."  Saturday’s emotional derby marked the second time in this series the Blackhawks won a multiple overtime game to tie the series. And for the second time they have put the pressure squarely back on the Ducks to respond, to prove that they can withstand the gut shot of losing a game that in many ways they deserved to win.
But what does "deserve" really mean? The Blackhawks dominated the first period but ended up with just one goal, a short-handed effort by Brandon Saad aided by referee Chris Rooney, whose skate caught Francois Beauchemin's blade and felled him creating an odd-man rush. And the Blackhawks sure looked like they were cruising to a series-tying victory when Brent Seabrook hammered home the rebound of a Saad wraparound effort that made it 3-1 at 7:38 into the third period. But this is a Ducks team that has shown its own unique brand of resilience all season long and all playoffs long. This series is the litmus test for them, a chance to prove they have learned from past mistakes and galvanized into a winning roster. They poured three goals past Corey Crawford in the third period to take the lead and then came in waves in the first overtime even though they had to kill off a Sami Vatanen hooking penalty. They picked up exactly where they left in the second overtime. They pounded pucks from the point and from the sideboards, and they crashed the net so often that at one point Crawford took his eye off the puck to try to hatchet Matt Beleskey in the chest. But they could not find a way to make the puck bounce their way one final time. Not on this night. "We’re a resilient group in here. You can’t dwell on any game in the playoffs, you’ve got to roll with the punches, and so far we have a second-overtime loss and a third-overtime loss, and that could be a tough pill to swallow," admitted Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler. "But you can also use it as motivation. We’re going back to Anaheim, and we’re in a heck of a series now. There’s no time to dwell on anything." As for their ability to score in bunches, Fowler said he’s not surprised by his team’s refusal to knuckle under. "I’ve come to realize that our team’s capable of a lot of things, especially at times when it looks like things are pretty dark and we might be out of it, we’re a group that believes, no matter what," Fowler said. There is an obvious respect factor that exists between these two team. Even after the win the Blackhawks were still shaking their collective heads at the three-goal torrent that for a brief time appeared would put the Ducks on the edge of a series win. "I can’t describe what happened during those few minutes there," said veteran forward Brad Richards. "Couldn’t dream that up in a million years. Their team, the same thing. Both teams, I think, have a resolve and a resiliency that’s probably as good as any." Richards set the stage for overtime by finding Patrick Kane at the side of the net with a long, diagonal pass on a Chicago power play with 7:21 left in regulation. "We played a pretty good hockey game in regulation and go up 3-1, and probably would have been a tough one to swallow if we would have lost that, especially in regulation," Richards said. And the thought of being down 3-1 heading to Anaheim? "Glad I don’t have to talk about it and it’s just a what-if now," said Richards, the former playoff MVP back in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has won it all and been achingly close as a member of a New York Rangers squad that fell in the Stanley Cup finals in five games last June. He understands those nebulous notions of will and character and how they come together in moments like this. "This team definitely knows how to stick with things," Richards said of his teammates. And so now this seesaw series returns to the West Coast, and once again the Ducks will need to prove they are who they appear to be. They have yet to lose in regulation this spring, all three of their losses coming in overtime -- one to Calgary in the second round and two in multiple-overtime sessions against Chicago. Chicago, meanwhile, ran its record to 4-0 in overtime in the postseason. As there was after Game 2’s triple-overtime defeat in Anaheim, there was disappointment from the Ducks. Whether that disappointment lingers and becomes something else in Game 5 -- something such as doubt -- will be known in only about 48 hours. "We had two road games that were pretty good," offered Andrew Cogliano, who drew a secondary assist on the first of the three third-period goals for Anaheim. "We got the split. It would have been nice to get the OT winner tonight. It’s going to be a long series; they’re a championship team, and they don’t die." In the end, the reality is that one of these teams is going to lose. But what seems certain after four games is that neither team will go away easily.
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