Maybe he got tired of Patrick Kane scoring all the dramatic overtime winners.
Jonathan Toews decided he would play the role of hero on Friday night, scoring 7:36 into overtime to give Chicago a 3-2 win in Game 5 of what’s become a truly compelling first-round affair.
With the victory, the ‘Hawks have stormed back after dropping the opening two games in St. Louis and now hold a 3-2 series lead.
And what a series it’s been.
Friday’s tilt was fourth time in five games Chicago and St. Louis have gone to overtime, just the fifth time that’s happened in NHL history. What’s more, Chicago has ended the last two OT sessions with goals from their dynamic duo, Kane and Toews.
Captain Serious’ goal tonight came after some scrambled play in the Chicago zone -- Corey Crawford punched a rebound out into traffic, and Duncan Keith’s wild swipe at the puck proved to be the perfect outlet pass, bouncing off Andrew Shaw’s shin pad to spring Toews on a breakaway:
That wasn’t the lone dramatic moment of the night, however.
Three of the biggest stars in this series -- T.J. Oshie, Marian Hossa and Alex Pietrangelo -- all got their first goals of the postseason. Hossa opened the scoring late in the first period, only to see Oshie even the score midway through the second with this outrageous marker:
Ben Smith scored for Chicago to make it 2-1 with under two minutes remaining in the second, but the lead didn’t last long as Pietrangelo scored 1:42 into the third period, converting a nice two-on-one with Jaden Schwartz to beat Crawford in goal.
Speaking of Crawford, he was solid again tonight in stopping 27 of 29 shots while his counterpart, Ryan Miller, made 27 saves on 30 shots.
With the win, Chicago will now head back to the United Center on Sunday with the chance to close out the Blues -- a Blues team that, for the second straight postseason, is facing an opening-round elimination after taking a 2-0 series lead.
