Hawks force game seven after Smith OT goal beats Canucks 4-3.

After a wild and eventful night at the United Center, the Blackhawks have pulled off the improbable.They’ve drawn even after losing the first three games to the Vancouver Canucks, the team with the best record in the NHL this season.Now, do the defending Stanley Cup champions have one more left? Ben Smith scored at 15:30 of overtime Sunday night, giving the Hawks a 4-3 victory and sending the spirited and physical opening-round series back to Vancouver for Game 7 on Tuesday night.The Canucks played what coach Alain Vigneault characterized as their best game of the series. They made a goalie switch, turning to Cory Schneider in place of Roberto Luongo, who was pulled in the two previous games when he gave up 10 goals on 40 shots. They still couldn’t win. And Schneider couldn’t finish. When Michael Frolik tied it on a penalty shot in the third, Schneider was injured while trying to make the save and it was Luongo on in relief. The Hawks are attempting to become the fourth team in NHL history to win a seven-game series after falling behind 3-0. Philadelphia did it last year against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals.Smith followed Niklas Hjalmarsson’s shot from point that bounced off Luongo.Daniel Sedin, Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieska scored for the Canucks. Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland added goals for the Blackhawks.Corey Crawford made 32 saves, including 12 in overtime. Schneider was hurt trying to stop Frolik’s goal at 2:31 of the final period and had to be helped off the ice after making 17 saves.Luongo faced only two shots on goal over the remainder of the third period, including one in a final frantic rush by the Blackhawks. Even though the Hawks had the Canucks scrambling, they couldn’t set up or find the go-ahead score and the game eventually headed to overtime.With the teams playing 4-on-4 to start the third period, the Canucks took the lead on Bieksa’s rebound goal 58 seconds in. He followed the puck in after a hard wrist shot from the right circle by Mason Raymond went off Crawford.About a minute and a half later, Frolik was awarded the penalty shot when Dan Hamhuis took him down on a breakaway. Frolik skated in, faked one way and went the other to beat Schneider, who was got twisted on the play.After Luongo replaced Schneider, the Canucks dominated play and had a chance to take the lead again, but Chris Higgins’ attempt hit the post with just more than 5 minutes to go.Chris Campoli nearly whiffed on a clearing pass and Burrows was right there to convert from the slot, giving the Canucks a 2-1 lead with just over a minute remaining in the opening period.After being foiled by Schneider on a power play in which they had a two-man advantage for 1:43, the Blackhawks tied it when Kane picked up a clearing attempt by Schneider and fed Bolland in the slot.Vigneault said after the Hawks 5-0 win in Game 5 that Luongo was still the guy, but that changed. Luongo has, at times, has struggled against the Blackhawks in the playoffs over the last three years. But in others he was brilliant, like his 32-save shutout in the opener.Schneider was making his first playoff start and just his third ever postseason appearance — he relieved Luongo in Games 4 and 5.The Canucks scored first. After Hjalmarsson failed to clear a puck, the Canucks kept it in the zone and Daniel Sedin took a pass off the boards from twin brother Henrik Sedin and wrapped it around the goal and past Crawford just more than 2 minutes into the game. It was Daniel Sedin’s fifth goal of the series. Bolland’s crushing hit behind the net on Vancouver’s Hamhuis forced a weak pass and Bickell picked it off and beat Schneider – who seconds earlier had ventured out of the net to clear a loose puck. That tied it at 1.Brent Seabrook, out for two games following a hard shoulder-to-head hit from Raffi Torres in Game 3, returned to the Blackhawks’ lineup and withstood a hard check from Victor Oreskovich in the opening period. Moments after Burrows hit the post on a power-play attempt, Torres was called for goalie interference. Mason Raymond was assessed a hooking penalty, giving the Blackhawks a 5-on-3 for 1:43. The Blackhawks called timeout during the power play, but Schneider responded, turning away five shots.

NOTES—Canucks defenseman Sami Salo played only four shifts. He had an undisclosed injury….The successful Penalty Shot by Frolik was the Hawks first in the Playoffs ever.It was just the fourth Penalty Shot ever awarded to the Blackhawks in Stanley Cup play and the first since 1995(Patrick Poulin).