CHICAGO - A day short of the third anniversary of Patrick Kane's goal that clinched the Chicago Blackhawks' first Stanley Cup in 49 years, he scored another memorable goal to put the Blackhawks back in the Final.
Kane scored his third goal of the game at 11:40 of the second overtime to lift Chicago to a 4-3 win that finished off a five-game win against the defending champion Los Angeles Kings in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
"He stepped up," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said of Kane. "He took responsibility of leading the team. He's proven he's a top player in the game ... Top players, they want to be great all of the time, finding a way to be great in the tight checking that many teams have."
The Blackhawks now will play the Boston Bruins in the first championship series matchup between Original Six opponents since 1979. The series starts Wednesday in Chicago (8 p.m. ET, NBC). A Game 7, if necessary, would be played on June 26.
"Right now, I think it's almost like I'm in a different zone, like in the twilight zone or something," said Kane, who added that this game ranked up there with his 2010 overtime clincher against the Philadelphia Flyers. "I'm kind of out of it. It's definitely a good feeling, though."
Captain Jonathan Toews set up Kane with a cross-ice feed on a 2-on-1 break-in into the Kings zone. Kane and Toews were the centerpieces of the 2010 Cup team.
BOX SCORE: Blackhawks 4, Kings 3 (2OT)
"In the end, probably their two best offensive guys made a great play to score the goal," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.
Kings forward Mike Richards had forced overtime when he scored with 10 seconds left in regulation.
"We have been there before," Chicago forward Patrick Sharp said about the blown lead. "You just have to keep playing. It's playoff hockey. No lead is safe."
Kane has four goals in the past two games after going seven games without one.
"You get that confidence when one goes in," said Sharp. "You get the weight off the shoulders. You've seen the last couple of games that Kaner is getting the puck with space and time."
His second goal, with 3:52 left in regulation, had given Chicago a 3-2. But the Kings pulled their goal in favor of an extra attacker, and Richards was able to find the net.
The Kings outshot Chicago 11-6 in the first overtime. "L.A. might have played their best in overtime this series," Quenneville said.
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Although the Blackhawks and Bruins are Original Six franchises, they never have before played each other in a Stanley Cup Final.
It was Chicago's first double-overtime playoff win in 16 years, dating to April 20, 1997, when the Blackhawks defeated Colorado 4-3.
"Sometimes you have to lose again to remember how hard it was to win," said Kings forward Justin Williams. "We will keep this bad feeling until we get another go at it."
Richards was back in the lineup for the first time since suffering an undisclosed injury when he took a heavy check from Dave Bolland in Game 1. He took another big hit from Andrew Shaw in Game 5.
Kings tied the game at 3:34 of the third period when Anze Kopitar pushed a rebound through Chicago goalie Corey Crawford for a power-play goal to make it 2-2. It was his second goal in the past 11 games.
The Blackhawks claimed a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by defenseman Duncan Keith (3:42) and Kane (5:59 ).
Keith scored on a lengthy slap shot that leaked through Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, who came into the game with a .938 save percentage.
The Blackhawks put the Kings under siege after that goal. Kane controlled the puck for several seconds, waiting until he had Quick down and out, before burying his shot to make a 2-0 game.
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In the postseason, the Kings were 1-8 on the road, and falling behind 2-0 in the first six minutes of Game 5 was the kind of the start they wanted to avoid.
The Kings fought back in the second period, cutting the margin to one goal when Dwight King scored a shorthanded goal at 9:28.
Shortly after that tally, Quick made a key save on Chicago forward Marian Hossa's breakaway to keep the Kings' comeback hopes alive.
"Obviously we're disappointed to lose to Chicago," Sutter said. "But we're certainly not disappointed in how we played. You look at our season, other than not getting home-ice advantage, we've done everything we wanted."
PHOTOS: WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
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