PHILADELPHIA — There was no red light, just Blackhawks flying over the boards in celebration. Sticks and helmets were thrown, scattered all over the ice and still no signal for a goal.
After a review, there was no dispute — the Blackhawks were the Stanley Cup champions.
Patrick Kane sneaked the puck past Michael Leighton 4:06 into overtime and stunned Philadelphia to lift the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 on Wednesday night for their first championship since 1961.
No one but the Blackhawks appeared to know what was going on for a few frozen moments. Kane and his linemates seemed the only players on the ice who knew the puck found the side of the net. The goal light never went on, but that didn’t stop most of the Blackhawks from storming the ice and mobbing each other in celebration.
Kane will go down as scoring one of the biggest goals in team history.
“I was just hoping to God it was just an actual goal,” said captain Jonathan Toews, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP. “They came back hard in the third, and we just stuck with it.”
Kane raised his arms right away and skated behind the net, knowing the goal was good. While the Flyers sat on the bench in stunned silence with confused looks, the Blackhawks began to celebrate in their own end around goaltender Antti Niemi.
“I knew it went in right away,” Kane said. “What a feeling. I can’t believe it. We just won the Stanley Cup. I can’t believe this just happened. . . . It’s something you dream about, scoring the final goal in the Stanley Cup Finals.”
Before reaching the group hug, Kane stooped to pick up some loose ice shavings — looking like a mischievous kid on Christmas ready to throw a snowball in the backyard.
“There’s so many great things about winning a Stanley Cup. This is it,” Toews said. “This is the best feeling you can ever get. I just can’t believe it’s happened.”
Toews was first to touch the Cup, taking it from commissioner Gary Bettman and hoisting it above his head in triumph. Marian Hossa, whose last two attempts at a title were denied while playing with Detroit and Pittsburgh, was next. He lifted it and bench-pressed the big trophy, snapping his head back in exhilaration.
“I’m so happy I finally did it,” Hossa said.
The Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led the way 49 years ago. It ends the longest active championship drought in the NHL.
Kane is the first player to score the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in overtime since Jason Arnott did it for New Jersey at Dallas in 2000.
“I heard the sound, it was a funny sound,” coach Joel Quenneville said of the Cup-winner. “Nobody knew where the puck was. Kaner thought it was in.”
Fitting in a series where neither team had much wiggle room, this one needed OT.
With the offense revved into desperation mode, Scott Hartnell was leveled by Toews right in front of the crease as he knocked a loose puck in to make it 3-3 with 3:59 left in the third.
“It’s no consolation,” Hartnell said. “The storybook ending ended the wrong way for us.”
Game Recap
Three stars
1. Patrick Kane.
Winning goal early in overtime, plus two assists, gives Chicago first Cup in 49 years.
2. Patrick Sharp.
One goal and finished a plus-three.
3. Jonathan Toews.
Blackhawks captain and NHL playoffs’ MVP.
What you might have missed
The Flyers have now lost their last six Stanley Cup Finals appearances. Their last title came in 1975.
Quotable
“There are so many guys on the team that deserve that trophy. Nobody is worried about that one. It was the big, silver one we were after.” — Toews, on being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner
Denver Post staff & wire services
