Blackhawks Charge Into Conference Finals

At long last, someone has broken through. In dramatic, captivating and breathtaking fashion, the Chicago Blackhawks are the NHL's first team to advance to the conference finals.

They did so by penetrating Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo for seven goals last night in a 7-5 Game 6 win, securing their conference finals berth in front of over 22,000 fans at the United Center.

Remarkably, this game outshone the one that preceded it--Game 6 of the Pittsburgh-Washington series, in which the Capitals forced a deciding Game 7 with a 5-4 overtime win in Mellon Arena.

But, back to the Blackhawks. The hometown 'Hawks received a sterling hat trick from winger Patrick Kane, and his third goal was a dandy. He went inside-out on defenseman Shane O'Brien, then pitchforked a backhanded shot past Luongo to the far post, putting Chicago up 7-5 with under four minutes to play.

It was bedlum in the United Center.

Many people doubted the Blackhawks, primarily for their abundance of youth and questionable goaltending situation heading into the playoffs. But upon coming back from injury, Nikolai Khabibulin took over the net from a struggling Cristobal Huet and has lifted the Hawks within four victories of a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yet it has been the Hawks youth that has been the catalyst to their dominant performance. Kris Versteeg, Adam Burish and Jonathan Toews also scored for Chicago last night, and other young players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland and Cam Barker have been outstanding thus far in their team's deep playoff push. Their top defensive pairing of Duncan Keith and Seabrook has been matched up against the opposition's top players night in and night out, and did a wonderful job against Vancouver's twin killing, Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Now, they play the waiting game. Game 6 between the Ducks and Red Wings takes place tonight in Anaheim, and the Ducks must win to keep their season alive. The last time these two met in Southern California, the Red Wings dropped six goals and coasted to a series-tying win. If Detroit prevails, the Blackhawks will meet their Central Division rivals for the Western Conference crown. Should the series extend the Game 7, it's just more rest for the battle-weary Blackhawks.

-On tap for tonight....

-Carolina and Boston tangle in Raleigh for Game 6, and the Hurricanes can pull the daddy of all upsets with a win. A Bruins victory would send the series back to Boston for Game 7 this weekend.

-Detroit and Anaheim meet for Game 6 in California. The hard-checking, fast-paced series spills over to SoCal, and the Ducks need to win or else tee times will be made in short order.