Beleskey's overtime winner pushes Hawks towards NHL elimination

Matt Beleskey scored the game winner 45 seconds into overtime to lift the Anaheim Ducks over Chicago 5-4, putting the Blackhawks on the brink of elimination from the NHL Western Conference finals. Cam Fowler and Ryan Kesler scored just 32 seconds apart in the first period and Sami Vatanen and Patrick Maroon also notched goals for the Ducks, who took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series. Beleskey collected a rebound off a Kesler shot and then dropped to one knee and punched the puck into the back of the net before tripping over goaltender Corey Crawford and crashing into the end boards. "That's the biggest goal I've ever scored. It's a great feeling any time you do that, especially at home," said Beleskey. "We're one game away from a Stanley Cup berth. It was a huge goal and it felt unbelievable." His seventh goal of the postseason, in front of a crowd of 17,200 at the Honda Center arena, touched off a celebration for the Ducks, who can wrap up the series with a victory on Wednesday in Chicago. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews scored his second goal of the game with just 38 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the contest at 4-4 and force overtime. Toews also scored at 18:10 of the third to cut the Ducks lead to 4-3. Toews' second goal capped a furious rally by the Blackhawks, who gave up three goals in the opening period to go down 3-0 heading into the second. Chicago didn't record their first shot on the Ducks' net until Toews got one with just under four minutes left in the first period. "I think we always show that we can dig ourselves out of those holes," said Toews. "I think going into overtime we were feeling that the game was in our hands and we're going to get that next break so it's unfortunate that we couldn't take advantage of it." Fowler scored on a long blast from the point and Kesler on a deflection as the Ducks scored twice on their first three shots of the game. Brent Seabrook and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Chicago, who suffered their first overtime loss of the playoffs after winning four in a row. Chicago was coming off a 5-4 double overtime decision against the Ducks on Saturday. The Blackhawks won two overtime battles in the opening round against Nashville before taking game two and four in overtime against Anaheim in the NHL semi-final series. Before Monday all of Chicago's overtimes had gone to at least a second session. And the last time Chicago was in the Honda Center they played their longest game in franchise history when they won game two with 3:48 left in the third overtime period. The way Sunday's tilt started out for the Blackhawks it looked like it was going to be another long night, but this time an evening of futility. Chicago started so poorly that almost their entire lineup was in the negative in the plus-minus stats heading into the middle frame. "You're playing elite teams that aren't going to give up at any point," said Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf. "We've had two overtime games against them that we've lost, and in those games we went into overtime trying not to lose. We went out there and executed what we wanted to do. We came up with a big play early on." Once again Ducks bench boss Bruce Boudreau seemed to get the better of his Chicago counterpart and former Toronto Maple Leaf teammate Joel Quenneville in the coaching department and his handling of Beleskey highlighted that. Beleskey started the game on the Ducks' fourth line but Boudreau moved him up to the Kesler line late in the game and it paid off in the overtime. Beleskey has been in Boudreau's doghouse at times during the regular season but he always seems to respond positively after a challenge from the coach. Quenneville on the other hand has struggled with his lineup, sitting 20-year-old Finnish rookie Teravainen in a game three loss but then going back to him in game four. Teravainen was Chicago's best offensive player early in Sunday's contest when the Blackhawks couldn't generate even a shot on goal for the first 16 minutes.