The Phoenix Coyotes took a 2-1 series lead against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night when Mikkel Boedker scored the game-winning goal in overtime for a 3-2 victory. This was Boedker's first career playoff goal, one that ended the third straight overtime game in this series.
Boedker picked up the puck on the left side of the ice and shot it nearly in line with the red line, but he had just enough space in front of him that he was able to get off a legitimate shot. It slipped past the skate of Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford for the game-ending goal at 13:15 in the extra period.
The Blackhawks had held a 1-0 lead through the first two periods after Andrew Brunette scored in the first frame, but over a span of 65 seconds in the third period the game wound up tied at two apiece.
Both teams put up a high number of shots with Phoenix's Mike Smith making 35 stops on 37 saves and Crawford stopping 31 of 34.
The teams will resume the series on Thursday for Game 4 at the United Center.
The Chicago Blackhawks entered the third period of Game 3 against the Phoenix Coyotes with a 1-0 lead, but nearly midway through the period there was a flurry of activity around both nets that resulted in a total of three goals scored in a span of 65 seconds. The two teams head to overtime in a 2-2 tie.
Phoenix's Rostislav Klesla scored at 8:16 in the period, but just 33 seconds later Michael Frolik countered with a goal of his own to temporarily put the Blackhawks back in the lead. Ray Whitney scored the equalizer 32 seconds later.
Whitney found himself perfectly placed for the goal here. With the puck making its way down the ice and eventually to the left wing at the boards, the puck moved across the ice with Whitney able to pick it up in front of the net. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was out of place on the sequence and let the puck go in for a goal.
This series heads to overtime for the third straight game.
The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Phoenix Coyotes, 1-0, after two periods of play in a series that is tied at one game a piece. Andrew Brunette's goal at 19:31 in the first period remains the only score of the game. The Blackhawks appeared to have a second goal with about two minutes remaining in the second period -- the reverberation of the pipes caused some confusion among the players -- but the puck clearly deflected off the pipe.
Both goalies have been solid in net. Mike Smith, who received a heavy blow in the previous game, has stopped 19 of 20 shots for the Coyotes while Corey Crawford has done Smith better by stopping 22 of 22 shots.
After the second period ended, the players wound up getting into a series of scuffles that took several minutes to end. A Coyotes player poked Jonathan Toews with his stick as the buzzer went off and that eventually resulted in some shoving and pushing that spread to everyone else on the ice.
Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said that Smith was "100 percent" following the game, but fell back on a vaguer statement that left his goaltender's status in doubt. Smith did not practice Monday, but did take part in the team's morning skate before the game Tuesday.
"Whether it's an injury day or rest day, our prerogative is we don't have to tell everybody why a player practices or not practices," Tippett said. "Why would we do that?"
Shaw earned a three-game suspension for his hit on Smith. Brendan Shanahan explained his decision, saying that Shaw did "did not make a reasonable effort to avoid such contact."
For more on Smith and the Coyotes, head over to the SB Nation blog Five For Howling. For more on the Blackhawks, check out Second City Hockey.
The Phoenix Coyotes are expected to start Mike Smith against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, but he's not a lock to play after taking a hit to the head in Game 2.
