Detroit Wins In 2 Ots Red Wings Within One Victory Of First Finals In 29 Years

Vladimir Konstantinov didn’t know for several seconds that he had put the Detroit Red Wings within one victory of their first Stanley Cup finals appearance in 29 years.

Chicago goalie Ed Belfour knew immediately that he put his Blackhawks within one loss of elimination in the Western Conference finals.

Konstantinov beat Belfour on a soft shot from just inside the blue line 9:25 into the second overtime as Detroit defeated Chicago 4-3 Tuesday night. But he didn’t know until teammate Dino Ciccarelli told him.

“I just shot the puck and turned around to skate back to center,” said Konstantinov, whose first career playoff goal ended the longest game of this year’s NHL playoffs. “Dino grabbed me from behind and said, ‘You scored the goal.’ I said, ‘No, Dino, I don’t trust you.’ And he said, ‘You scored the goal.’ Then I was happy.”

Belfour, meanwhile, was despondent. He lay face down on the United Center ice and didn’t move as his teammates tried to console him.

“We wouldn’t have been in the second overtime if it wasn’t for him,” Murray Craven said.

The play looked innocent enough, with Konstantinov gaining control at center ice, striding into Chicago’s zone and putting a soft wrist shot toward the net. But Belfour, who had made 47 saves and sparkled in the first overtime, barely got his blocker on the puck and the puck went into the back of the goal.

“I saw his reaction and I know it tore the guts out of him,” Detroit’s Stu Grimson, an ex-Blackhawk, said of Belfour, who wasn’t available for comment. “But if I know Eddie, he’s already turning up the juice for Game 4.”

The Red Wings, who took a 3-0 lead for the third straight series, tied a team season playoff record with their eighth consecutive victory. Detroit, which has won each game this round by one goal, can advance with a win Thursday night in Chicago.

Trying to break the NHL’s longest Stanley Cup drought - 40 years - Detroit is 11-1 in the playoffs as it aims for its first trip to the championship series since 1966.

“The fourth game’s always the toughest,” said Detroit goalie Mike Vernon, who made 10 of his 26 saves in the extra periods. “Chicago is not going to lay down. They’ll come out hard at us like they did tonight.”

Only twice in NHL history has a team blown a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series. Detroit lost to Toronto in 1942 and Pittsburgh lost to the New York Islanders in 1975.

A giveaway by Detroit defenseman Paul Coffey let Chicago tie it with 11:27 left in regulation. He tried to lift a clearing pass, but Jeff Shantz gloved the puck, dropped it to the ice, skated between the circles and put a wrist shot over Vernon’s glove. history, 22,709.

Detroit 4, Chicago 3 (2OT)

Detroit 12001 - 4 Chicago 11100 - 3

First Period-1, Chicago, Savard 4 (Chelios, Poulin), 7:23 (pp). 2, Detroit, Primeau 4 (Lidstrom, Coffey), 18:31 (pp).

Second Period-3, Chicago, Nicholls 1 (Sutter, Savard), 3:02 (pp). 4, Detroit, Grimson 1 (Taylor, Primeau), 5:32. 5, Detroit, Coffey 5 (Lidstrom, Fedorov), 13:20 (pp).

Third Period-6, Chicago, Shantz 3 (Murphy), 8:33.

First Overtime-None.

Second Overtime-7, Detroit, Konstantinov 1 (Fetisov), 9:25.

Shots on goal-Detroit 8-15-8-16-3-50. Chicago 7-7-5-8-2-29. A-22,709 (20,500).