Blackhawks stage late rally to win Stanley Cup

BOSTON — The Chicago Blackhawks pulled off a stunning comeback win — with two goals in the last 1:16 — to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Monday and claim NHL's Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons.

The series looked like going to a deciding Game 7 until Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored just 17 seconds apart in the dying stages of the third period to steal the victory and complete a 4-2 series win.

With the last minute looming and the home fans preparing for a celebration, Jonathan Toews fed a pass to Bickell who scored from the edge of the crease to tie it 2-2.

Perhaps the Bruins expected it to go to overtime, as three of the first four games in the series did, because they seemed to be caught off-guard on the ensuing faceoff. A shot deflected by Michael Frolik went off the post right to Bolland, who put it in the net, sparking a wild Chicago celebration with 59 seconds left in the game.

"It's huge," Bolland said. "Just seeing that puck bounce around there, I knew I just had to tap it in. So it was a huge goal."

The Blackhawks on the ice embraced in the corner, while the bench began jumping up and down in delight.

After withstanding a final minute of desperate Boston attacks, the game was over and the Blackhawks surged over the boards, throwing their sticks and gloves across the ice.

"We thought we were going home for Game 7. You still think you're going to overtime and you're going to try to win it there. Then Bolly scores a huge goal 17 seconds later," said Chicago forward Patrick Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason's most valuable player. "It feels like the last 58 seconds were an eternity."

The team that set an NHL record with a 24-game unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season won three straight games after falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven finals, rallying from a deficit in the series and in its finale. Corey Crawford made 23 saves, and Toews returned from injury to add a goal and an assist in the first finals between Original Six teams since 1979.

"I still can't believe that finish," Crawford said. "Oh my God, we never quit."

The Bruins got 28 saves from Rask, who was hoping to contribute to an NHL title after serving as Tim Thomas' backup when Boston won it all two years ago.

The sellout TD Garden crowd had been chanting "We want the Cup!" after Milan Lucic's goal put the Bruins up 2-1 with eight minutes left, but it fell silent after their team coughed up the lead.

The arena was almost empty — except for a few hundred fans in red Blackhawks sweaters who filtered down to the front rows — when the Chicago players passed the 35-pound Cup around the ice.

"Probably toughest for sure, when you know you're a little bit over a minute left and you feel that you've got a chance to get to a Game 7," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "And then those two goals go in quickly."

Toews returned from injury and scored his third goal of the playoffs to tie the game 1-1 at 4:24 of the second period — exactly two minutes after teammate Andrew Shaw was penalized for roughing.

"In 2010, we didn't really know what we were doing," Toews said. "We just, we played great hockey and we were kind of oblivious to how good we were playing.

"This time around, we know definitely how much work it takes and how much sacrifice it takes to get back here and this is an unbelievable group. We've been through a lot together this year and this is a sweet way to finish it off."

Boston, needing a win to extend the series to a deciding Game 7, came out aggressively and led 1-0 after one period on Chris Kelly's second goal of the playoffs. The Bruins outshot the Blackhawks 12-6 in the first period but the margin dropped to 18-15 through 40 minutes.

Toews scored when he got past Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara along the boards in the neutral zone. Chicago's captain skated up the right side and fired a hard shot from the right faceoff dot that beat Rask between his pads.

It stayed 1-1 until Lucic put Boston ahead with 7:49 left in the third.

The final series seemed headed for a Game 7 for the sixth time in the last 10 years before Bickell and Bolland turned it around.

"Dave Bolland, what else can you say about that guy?" Kane said. "He just shows up in big playoff games."