CHICAGO -- The greatest playoff performance in Chicago Blackhawks history and the most deafening home crowd in the NHL went to waste Thursday night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for their second straight stunning upset, 6-4, Thursday night to lead their best-of-five Norris Division semifinal series 2-0 and negated an unprecedented four-goal performance by Chicago center Denis Savard.
The first four-goal playoff game in the 57-year history of the Blackhawks was one goal short of the NHL playoff record.
'He's probably the fastest skater in the league,' said Toronto's Steve Thomas, who scored two goals in both playoff victories. 'Nobody can stop him. But I think our backcheckers were effective stopping the other players on his line.'
'It's a shame Denis' game had to be wasted,' Chicago winger Steve Ludzik said. 'We'd like nothing better than to show the people in this town what we can do.'
Instead, the Maple Leafs, who finished fourth in the Norris Division, have shown the Windy City waht they can do all season long. They have beaten the first-place Blackhawks in eight of 10 games this season.
'This place is so hot (with crowd excitement) it makes us hotter,' said Walt Poddubny, who scored the game-winning goal with 56 seconds remaining.
The series moves on to Toronto for the third and, if necessary, the fourth games.
'In my opinion, this thing is far from over,' said Toronto coach Dan Maloney. 'The Blackhawks are a great team and they can come back.'
Savard had never scored four goals in a game before, but he said the loss erased any joy he might have experienced.
'Now it's just another game and we'll come back,' said Savard. 'I've been struggling against Toronto. We were down and when you're down, you give everything you got and that's what I did tonight.'
Chicago led 4-3 after two periods before Peter Ihnacak tied the score from ascramble at 14:10 of the third.
With one minute left in the game, Ihnacak lunged to keep the puck in the Chicago end and passed to Poddubny, who slapped the game-winner from the left side of substitute Chicago goalie Bob Sauve.
Steve Thomas scored an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left to complete the scoring.
Savard scored a pair of goals in each of the first and second periods. The hat trick was the sixth of his career and second in post-season play.
He gave Chicago its first lead of the series, 3-2, at 1:04 of the second period with his third goal of the game. Jack O'Callahan's wrist shot from the point bounced out in front of Toronto goalie Ken Wregget, who was blocked by two of his own players when Savard slapped the puck into the net.
Savard put the Blackhawks ahead 4-2 at 14:57 with a rebound of his own shot. Toronto's rookie star Wendel Clark drew the Maple Leafs within 4-3 at 16:09 with his second playoff goal.
Chicago outshot Toronto 17-8 in the first period but managed only a 2-2 tie.Ten penalties were called, setting up seven power-play situations, including four for the Blackhawks.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 4:01 of the first period on a goal by Dan Daoust. The first of Savard's two power-play goals, from a tight angle directly to the right of Wregget, tied the score at 9:58.
Thomas got his third power-play goal of the playoffs at 15:46 to give Toronto a 2-1 lead. The shot, from the left of Chicago goalie Murray Bannerman, was identical to one of his goals Wednesday night, including the set-up pass from Gary Leeman.
With Chris Kotsopoulos in the penalty box for interference, Savard got his second goal at 19:28. Doug Wilson's slapshot bounced off the wall behind the net and out to Savard, who got the puck over a sprawled Wregget.
Bannerman suffered a pulled groin muscle and was taken out at 1:12 of the second period and replaced by Sauve.
Three Chicago players were injured in the game, with only Tom Lysiak returning to play. Defenseman Behn Wilson suffered a back injury in the first period and was taken to the hospital.
Lysiak suffered a bruied hip in the first period, but came back for the second and third periods.
Savard gave Chicago its first lead of the series, 3-2, at 1:04 of the second period with his third goal of the game. Jack O'Callahan's wrist shot from the point bounced out in front of Toronto goalie Ken Wregget, who was blocked by two of his own players when Savard slapped the puck into the net.
Savard put the Blackhawks ahead 4-2 at 14:57 with a rebound of his own shot. Toronto's rookie star Wendel Clark drew the Maple Leafs within 4-3 at 16:09 with his second playoff goal.
Chicago outshot Toronto 17-8 in the first period but managed only a 2-2 tie.Ten penalties were called, setting up seven power-play situations, including four for the Blackhawks.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 4:01 of the first period on a goal by Dan Daoust. The first of Savard's two power-play goals, from a tight angle directly to the right of Wregget, tied the score at 9:58.
Steve Thomas got his third power-play goal of the playoffs at 15:46 to give Toronto a 2-1 lead. The shot, from the left of Chicago goalie Murray Bannerman, was identical to one of his goals Wednesday night, including the set-up pass from Gary Leeman.
With Chris Kotsopoulos in the penalty box for interference, Savard got his second goal at 19:28. Doug Wilson's slapshot bounced off the wall behind the net and out to Savard, who got the puck over a sprawled Wregget.
Bannerman suffered a pulled groin muscle and was taken out at 1:12 of the second period and replaced by Sauve.
Three Chicago players were injured in the game, with only Tom Lysiak returning to play. Defenseman Behn Wilson suffered a back injury in the first period and was taken to the hospital.
Lysiak suffered a bruied hip in the first period, but came back for the second and third periods.
