know that toews line is coming out. the top line for the blackhawks. so what rotation, job responsibilities? again, repetition. if we win, here's what we're going to try to do to get the puck out. if we lose it, here's what we want to try to protect. >> mike: false start on the face-off between toews and craig adams, his ex-teammate. >> pierre: don't you want adams to supply him up and get some wing support? >> mike: hjalmarsson flipped it back. kicked on back near him, but it's lobbed back out again and down by conner. will it make it for an icing? just barely. >> pierre: so much for that time-out. did a good job, pittsburgh n that situation, making sure it wasn't a clean win. toews was strong on the stick. >> mike: one of the top face-off men in the league is jonathan

toews. >> eddie: patrick sharp helped out. look where kane goes. he tries to come and open up the space. now sharp is looking for kane to dart in in that open space in the high slot area. >> mike: he won 10 of his first 13 today. the penguins are able to dip it back out with less than 100 seconds separating these two teams from overtime. here's kane moving in. oh, he couldn't get it by. and then we get a hooking call against the penguins. >> eddie: jonathan toews with the outstanding pass. right to kane. kris letang standing still. and there you see the stick. watch the effort here by letang. just get the puck out of the crease. but what a pass by toews to kane. >> pierre: jonathan toews has nothing to apologize for. he's had a tremendous game here

this afternoon for chicago. surprising he's not going to start this power play, though, edzo. kane, sharp, and toews on the bench. >> eddie: probably a 35-second shift for those guys over there. remember they already used their time-out. >> mike: shorthanded, matt cooke. and that's deflected up out of play. so the penguins get an offensive zone face-off out of this with 1:12 to go. >> eddie: matt cooke was the man that scored the shorthanded goal to get some energy going for the pittsburgh penguins in the second period. jordan staal is on again in a tremendous afternoon for pittsburgh. maybe not great offensively, but he's done some really good things defensively. >> mike: now we get some changes at the chicago bench. hard around by seabrook. slowed down. could not be controlled by fleury. able to pop it around behind, and it's brouwer. back for hossa.

smeared by orpik. hossa yet again in the last 48. brouwer connects on with david bolland. seabrook. laid it across. it's keith. off the boards, bolland. bolland fed one in front. shot by hossa. deflected wide as kneeling down was michalek. forced back out again. a penalty against the blackhawks. >> pierre: what a game for matt cooke. >> eddie: after a great chance for marian hossa off the pass from dave bolland. there's hossa popping out to the slot. he goes short side. there's a lot of room on the far side. and then hossa puts his head down and comes all the way back and ties up matt cooke. >> mike: seven weeks from today

it is over. the blackhawks are in one of those difficult positions. they are four away from more teams that are tied for fifth. now that's confusing. you look at the standings, and it's probably just as confusing. pittsburgh in a little more of a comfortable position. washington won today, so the penguins leap from fourth to fifth, and thus home ice in the first round is fourth. >> pierre: just putting points in the bank is probably good enough for pittsburgh. for chicago, they need the bonus points. they need two, edzo, don't they? >> eddie: yeah. >> pierre: with this depleted pittsburgh team coming in here, chicago needs to win this game. >> eddie: corey crawford looking at the bench and saying, what about pulling me? 3.6 seconds. extra time on the clock. he's looking at the bench, and nobody from the bench is looking at him. >> mike: so that's a no. okay. so we will now go to sudden death overtime, and it will be even for a bit. but then a penguin power play.

what chaos? 2-2 after 60. >> mike: here again at united center in chicago, it will go to overtime. check your watch. what is it, about five after the hour? the puck drop in calgary is 21 past the hour. we still have time. whether you like your hockey indoors, out, or both, we are going into sudden death overtime here.

you will have a very good chance to see the drop of the puck in calgary. they have been frozen and are prepared for any kind of weather condition. >> eddie: the boys over on versus will take great care of that. dave strader with the call. andy brickley will be there as well. and there's pierre having a conversation with matt cooke. >> pierre: he said he's out of gas. suspended four games, just getting into game shape, aren't you, matt? >> eddie: he is. >> mike: he'll be well rested. >> pierre: on the back to back they play with washington tomorrow. >> mike: those of you who like the notion of three against three as a way to settle overtime, you're going to get your wish for 36 seconds. and then there will be a penguin power play. barring a goal being scored because this is sudden death.

here's keith. away from dupuis. jonathan toews is out there. seabrook. toews watched carefully by paul martin, and he took it right away as he tried to fiddle by. back on for dupuis. gave it up the wing. orpik a drive. that deflected wide and hopped to the corner. carried back ahead by toews now. crosses to seabrook, motors on and shoots. right back out in front by fleury. yanked away by goligoski. goligoski able to bring it right back out to centerment. now the power play has begun. it's a four against three. will the game end on this? letang handed it across. goligoski has it there. waits and sets up letang. and the shot was deflected wide. goligoski again, hands it on to

letang. standing in front it's staal. drives. oh, hits staal! and it's cleared. staal is headed right past pierre to the bench area. >> pierre: that puts him in a bad spot. >> mike: and comes letang now. gave it on to goligoski. goligoski moves it over to kennedy. goligoski again. takes the drive. kennedy in. drive and shoots off the glass. goligoski able to shake away from hossa. is able to one hand it and rifle pass to center. remarkably letang comes up with it. how does he do it? a hand pass stops play and relief to the penguins there. >> eddie: i thought he closed his hand on that puck was hossa was circling around. there's jordan staal standing right in front of that. doc, you talked about it, but right after that, here's tyler kennedy wide open. just air mails it over the cross bar. wow.

there's jordan staal standing right in front. just at the last second, thankfully he turns to his right. >> pierre: he's gone to the dressing room. he is not on the penguins bench. >> mike: not surprising. all right. now it's four a side. conventional overtime now. turning with it is campbell. two of the five minutes have been played. kane trying to skate by. paul martin took it away and steered it on back. max talbot back up the wing. watched tightly and effectively by keith. out from kane. across it comes to patrick sharp. moves back out with campbell off the tip of his stick. 2:40 to go. little bit of everything here today. here's kane moving on around in front. it was a tough pass for keith to handle. on back, and toews must retrieve at center. now keith as the team makes

changes again. brooks orpik handles this one for the penguins with 2:15 to go as of right now. carried back on by letang. led one ahead, but it's carried back in by vitale. and a backhander is directed off the high glass. joe vitale able to trickle to the outside, lost it, but will regather at center. more changes for chicago. hossa is out there now for the blackhawks, and david bolland, and he shuffles it back down. letang going after it with hossa. they bump. hossa up with it. hossa stays to the outside. letang out of the way. more changes for the penguins. back on comes campbell. followup bolland. bolland gave it across. oh, what a shot! played to the outside again. keith a shot. snagged and held by fleury.

>> pierre: edzo, the first save is unbelievable against frolik, absolutely unbelievable. >> eddie: well, what allowed marc-andre fleury to move and make that stop is that dave bolland took the puck to the middle of the ice. so marc-andre fleury has less room to travel because he was already in the middle. he had to move two feet instead of having to move from post to post. what a play there by bolland and a great stop there by marc-andre fleury. >> pierre: oh, my goodness. don't do that at home. you'll get hurt. >> mike: you want to stretch a few times first. here comes orpik. 1:12 from now, we'll be looking at a shootout if there is no change in the score. offsides called yet again. >> pierre: paul still not back on the bench. and a short bench for the penguins right now. obviously, with jordan staal not there. not seeing a lot of tim wallace. not seeing a lot of michael rupp.

i'd throw it out to tim wallace. >> eddie: he's really needed to skate and create in a four on four. he's had a consistent, solid afternoon. >> pierre: john heinz is a coach down in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania. used to coach team usa and part of the national development program. he's done a fantastic job coaching down there in wilkes-barre. >> mike: undoubtedly watching here as kennedy, another one of his charges from by gone days, threw one that was off of keith. punched along by campbell. fed to the outside to kennedy. 53 to go in the overtime. kennedy got it back. orpik a shot. and that one deflected off. played on by talbot. to the outside. blocked by campbell. sends it on back to martin. martin a shot. goes through two blackhawks and skips just wide. outlets on to kane. moving back up. controlling it is kane. kane drifts in, circles. swirls around behind now.

mike rupp a stick. kane drops it on hoping for keith. but it is paul martin's puck to play with 20 keeping these teams from a shootout. >> eddie: nice play by maxime talbot, man on man. stayed with duncan keith. >> pierre: how about orpik going against kane one on one? that was pretty impressive. >> mike: here's dupuis shooting one knifed down by seabrook. follow up by letang. three to go. drive. and that one led beyond cooke and got the glass. and it is a shootout here in chicago. well, why not? 65 minutes is not settling it. 67 shots have not settled it. [ male announcer ] mcdonald's new chipotle bbq bacon angus third pounder. trying to contain all that smoky, sweet goodness atop 100% angus beef, luscious bacon, and melted cheese may prove impossible. for chipotle bbq sauce follows two laws of nature --

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>> mike: blackhawks with 31 shots. the last two the toughest for marc-andre fleury. >> eddie: michael frolik after a great pass by dave bolland and fleury, that athleticism as the veteran craig adams talks to his goaltender. give them a little bit of scouting report on some of the guys that he knows very well for spending some time here in chicago. that being craig adams. numbers here for marc-andre

fleury for this year and in his terrific young career. >> mike: save percentages .741 for fleury. .650 for crawford. jonathan toews, 4 for 7 this year, 18 for 33. better than half, which means you are exceptional in these shootouts. let's see how he does against fleury. save! >> eddie: looks like he tried to go five hole. fleury not opening up at all. toews comes straight in. i love that he has the puck in the shooting position. almost looked like fleury kind of faded a little bit. he's thinking about maybe a poke-check. >> mike: 1 for 3 this year, 3 for 5 in his career, first time against crawford for dupuis. off the pipe!

>> eddie: nice little fake bypass cal dupuis. right away got crawford down. holds on a second longer. wide open. >> mike: 1 for 5, career 7 for 29 for sharp in against fleury. no! >> pierre: he's got it going on. after the bryan bickell goal, marc-andre fleury has been a tower of power in goal. >> eddie: contact off there. not a lot of movement going on by fleury. >> pierre: he's reading the puck now so it looks like a beach ball, not a hockey puck. >> mike: only defenseman with back to back shootout wins, kris letang. stop by crawford. >> eddie: tried to go glove side on corey crawford. kris letang, the all-star defenseman, doesn't get it.

crawford closes the goal. >> mike: 2 for 6, career 16 for 39. goal! >> pierre: there's some hands on, edzo. oh, man. >> eddie: yeah, right there. just a little move to the back hand. kane puts it right to the back of the net. >> mike: kennedy 0 for 2 this year and in his career. trying to keep it alive for pittsburgh. save! blackhawks win!

a lot of extra points, 66 of them. and 88 secured it. the blackhawks two points behind dallas, los angeles, anaheim, calgary, and minnesota. duncan keith, pierre mcguire. >> pierre: thanks a lot, doc. it hasn't been easy for you guys all year long. looks like when pittsburgh tied it up that you were a little bit flat. how are you managing to get some positive energy on the bench? >> it's been tough, you know.

we just kept battling. you know, it's nice to see us never quit throughout the game here. it was tough to see them get that last one to tie it up. we just stuck with it, and fortunately got it to a shootout and won. >> pierre: going into the season, it didn't look like corey crawford was going to be your guy. marty turco looked like he was going to be the guy. what's corey crawford meant to this team so far? >> he's been huge. he stepped right in. he's paid his dues in the minors. he's been great for us all season. we're real confident with both our goalies in net, but crawford's been great. >> pierre: has the team in chemistry hurt your team at all? >> it's always tough when you lose a lot of close friends and a lot of guy you played with for a long time. and winning a stanley cup, you have a great team, and you lose so many players. so it's tough. but the guy who have come in have played big roles, and they've been great and great in the room. you know, we've just got to keep rolling here for the next 20. >> pierre: what's the message

that you can do as a team in order to start out. you don't have a fall back when you go into st. louis for the next game? >> it's just desperation. there's no time now to waste. there's no points. we need it right from the start, first five minutes, and go from there. >> pierre: thanks for doing this, duncan, much appreciated. doc? >> mike: not only are the blackhawks only two away from those five teams, they are currently only six away from the fourth spot, as we see crawford come up large. >> eddie: tyler kennedy kind of set it up real quick, and the change of pace, he slowed down right away. tried to make a move. once the players start getting into stick handling mode, doc, goal players know that shooting does not become an option. and the reaction from the blackhawks bench. and the man that won it for the blackhawks, patrick kane, you talk about making one move. couple of stick handles, goes to the backhand. in an all in one move, he brings it back. marc-andre fleury going for the backhand move. right there, you see the left pad, he kicks out. kane in a matter of a split second with just turn those hands over, slide it in, and the

puck just barely gets to the back of the net. but that's why guys like kane, crosby, and malkin, those are the guys that get the big bucks. >> mike: pierre, back to you. >> pierre: thanks a lot, doc. with patrick sharp. patrick, obviously not easy for you guys. what was the message after the second period in the dressing room before you came out for the third? >> we weren't very happy giving up the shorthanded goal. we worked hard to draw that penalty. then we give one up in our net. we've been in a lot of these third period battles, whether we're up a goal or down a goal or tied. it's usually going the other way. it's nice to see us step up and get this win. >> pierre: why do you think it's been such a difficult season for your team? >> that's a good question. we kind of get away from what makes us successful, putting pucks behind the defensemen and not using our speed and really working for the other team. we can take something away from this game because, when the game was on the line, we did that. >> pierre: usually a center iceman.

now they've got you on a line with jonathan toews and patrick ka kane. how does that change the a way you play the game? >> it changes things because i can focus more on the offense. jonathan does things so well. he tells me to score goals and go get that puck. it relieves some of the pressure in the defensive zone. i know i still have responsibilities, but i feel like i can score more goals. >> pierre: how did you guys have more fun as a chicago blackhawks group? >> it's interpret write fun. the crowd is awesome every night. we have a team that cares about each other. i know it's tough down the stretch, but we've got a lot of hockey ahead of us. it starts with a big win tonight. >> pierre: thanks for doing this. doc? >> mike: a lot of hockey indeed. 31 goals for him. his best year ever was three years ago when he had 36. let's look back on three hours of quite an afternoon. >> eddie: beautiful passing play. kane to hjalmarsson to toews. to that man right there, patrick sharp, three in two games. and then maxime talbot, beautiful pass after brooks orpik made a great defensive

play, shorthanded goal. that's matt cooke, his 11th. and bryan bickell, early in the third period, gives the blackhawks a 2-1 lead. tyler kennedy. jordan staal goes hard to the net. and brett sterling ties it up at 2. we head to overtime. opportunities on the power play for the penguins. goligoski to tyler kennedy, air mails it up and over. an empty net. michael frolik with a great chance as fleury moves right to left. and then we head to the shootout. pascal dupuis, beautiful little move. unfortunately off the post for dupuis. and the only goal scorer in the shootout, backhand, forehand from the buffalo, new york native, patrick kane. and then tyler kennedy on corey crawford. and the blackhawks get that extra point and move up the western conference standings. >> mike: seven weeks from today that could loom from a very large point to have been acquired here at united center this afternoon. what a thrilling atmosphere.

22,500 people were here. the largest crowd that they've had this year. but it was through six hours. a wonderful day. for many it began very early in the morning, and they had their own games or their own practices to deal with as we did here. eddie olczyk skated the stanley cup. his name is on it from '94. they have called him a gray beard. but he is not. nor is that young man who played outside, mugsy, the g-men did not forget a veteran from overseas. the boston blades made up of some united states olympians. youth hockey personified all during this day, as well as in washington, d.c., where a lot of kids are just getting their first crack at all of this excitement. yesterday there was a nationwide celebration of hockey as well called bring a friend to the

rink. try hockey for free. there were 200 rinks in the united states where there was free hockey just to get a chance to feel what it's like to have in your hands an unnatural extension of your arm. and on your feet, two unnatural extensions of those. and to try to coordinate, i don't know how you guys do it. 5,000 young people. >> eddie: they got a chance to taste the greatest game in the world. a great job by usa hockey and a great job by everyone here today to celebrate the game of hockey in the u.s. >> mike: four stanley cup championship banners hang here in chicago. will there be a fifth? they have to qualify first, and we at nbc will be excited to l inform the blackhawks and all the rest of the teams down a bumpy road to the finish when that happens. the blackhawks, of course last year, but also in the 1938 year, it was really unusual to have

eight players on your team that were american-born, let alone to have an american-trained coach, bill stewart, whose grandson later was american trained as a player and a referee as well, paul stewart. all about what has happened on madison street in chicago for the last 83 years of the 85-year history of the chicago blackhawks. don't forget our hockey coverage continues on versus with the nhl heritage classic tonight on nbc. following your local news, it's an all new "date line" at 7:00/6:00 central followed by back to back "saturday night live" specials. the nhl game of the week on nbc presented by progressive returns on march 12th. the yale princeton men played today. nichols college, norwich university's women are playing now. the ahl texas stars are in milwaukee to play the admirals. they're about to start. the usa cedar rapids-dubuque

game was earlier today. the chicago hitmen hosted the motor city metal jackets last night. while the wolves were home to texas. that's a lot of hockey. there's more to come. for eddie, pierre, mike, liam, and the rest of our hockey day teams, doc emrick saying so long from victorious chicago. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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