The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks had their backs against the wall against the St. Louis Blues. The Hawks dropped the opening two games of their series in overtime and could not afford another loss and go down 3-0 in the best of seven.
Looking for a spark, the Hawks found one in the form of their captain Jonathan Toews -- he is able to beat Ryan Miller from well out to give Chicago the lead. At first it looked like one that Miller should’ve stopped, but it goes off the defenseman tough one for the tender.
The Blues would try and even things late in the period on on the power-play but Corey Crawford makes a couple of great stops, first on Kevin Shattenkirk’s slapshot and Steve Ott’s rebound. The Chicago goalie made 34 saves.
And that would be enough, as Chi-town would ice things late in the third. Marcus Kruger scoring into the empty net to make it 2-nothing. Chicago wins it, and now trails their series 2-1.
Pens erase 3-1 deficit, lead series 2-1
Columbus hosting Pittsburgh, with that series even at 1, And the home side goes ahead early Jack Johnson comes in off the point and puts in a rebound behind Marc Andre Fleury 2-buzz, C-bus. 3 and half minutes in.
Fast forward to the third and Columbus up 3-2, and the Pens on the attack, Lee Stempniak ripping one past Sergei Bobrovsky and we are tied at 3, with 13 minutes to go.
And Pittsburgh would take the lead...just a minute later --- the Olli Maata point shot finds its way in. The puck hitting Jussi Jokinen on the way through a tough one for Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh comes back to take it 4-3, and grab a 2-1 series edge.
Granlund scores winner, Avs lead series 2-1
And finally we head to Minnesota who trailed their series versus Colorado 2-nothing game three was scoreless into overtime, but Mikael Granlund gives new life to the series, he comes in off the side boards and outwaits Seymeon Varlamov. Minny takes it 1-nothing, and are now back in the series down 2-1.