The Chicago Blackhawks lost to their rival, the Vancouver Canucks,2-1, in a rugged, determined Game 7 that went to OT,
Alex Burroughs scored on a Hawks turnover with the 5th minute of OT to send the home crowd into a frenzy, and leaving the Hawks to ponder, how close they came to making history. The Hawks put up a valiant fight, thanks to the outstanding goaltending of Chris Crawford. He was stellar in net, turning back a penalty shot, and three close-in saves in the 3rd period, any which would have won the game for the Canucks. But Vancouver played well in front of their home ice fans at Rogers Arena and slayed the dragon, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Jonathan Toews scored a short-handed goal with under two minutes left to play stun the crowd and the game went into OT.
The issue would be could Roberto Luongo make the saves to keep his team in the game. He did. He stopped a great attempt by Patrick Sharp in OT, and shortly after, Vancouver capitlized on a critical turnover and Burroughs came through.
He was denied early the third period by Goalie Crawford on a penatly shot. But the withering pressure of the Canucks paid off, and they scored the winning goal.
It was a great effort by Chicago. If they won the game, it would have propelled them into the second round against San Jose and their former goalie Annti Niemi. But the season ended, after a stirring comeback which saw the Hawks win 3 straight games and push the 7th game into OT. I am sure the Canucks breathed a massive sigh of relief. Chicago has to know it played like a champion after coming back from an 0-3 hole. They made a great showing and it came up a goal short.
