NHL PLAYOFFS : Blackhawks Eliminate Canucks

Chris Chelios brought a sudden end to the Vancouver Canucks’ season and also the end of NHL hockey at the Pacific Coliseum.

The Chicago defenseman scored in overtime for the second consecutive game Saturday, giving the Blackhawks an emotional 4-3 comeback victory and a four-game sweep of Canucks in the Western Conference semifinals.

Three games in the series went to overtime and in addition to moving the Blackhawks into the conference finals, it also eliminated last year’s Stanley Cup finalists and marked the end of 25 seasons for the Canucks at the Coliseum.

The Canucks, who will move into luxurious GM Place in downtown Vancouver in September, left the ice to mostly appreciative cheers from the crowd of 15,016, although there were some soft drinks thrown on the ice.

Chelios took a pass from Denis Savard and snapped a quick shot past Kirk McLean at 5:35 of overtime. Jeremy Roenick forced the overtime when he scored midway through the third period by banking a shot off the out-of-position McLean.

“In the past, we were a team in trouble when we got a couple goals down,” Chelios said. “With the addition of guys like Denis Savard and Murray Craven, we’ve been able to come back without opening up too much.

“In overtime I found myself open. Denis made a great play. All I had to do was throw it at the net.”

In each overtime game, the Blackhawks battled from behind. Joe Murphy scored in overtime in Game 1 in Chicago and Chelios in Game 3 in Vancouver.

“We’re pretty disappointed in that all the games were close,” Rick Ley said after completing his first season as Canucks coach. “We were right there, but just didn’t seize the opportunity.”

The Blackhacks won the four games by a total of five goals.

Craven and Gerald Diduck, both former Canucks, scored the other Chicago goals in a wild second period that featured five goals.

The Canucks got two goals from rookie Roman Oksiuta and another by Jeff Brown, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with a thigh injury.

Vancouver lost scoring star Pavel Bure in the second period with a pulled hip ligament. Bure did not score against Chicago after having seven goals in the first round against St. Louis.

The Blackhawks were without defenseman Gary Suter, who broken a bone in his hand when he was slashed in Game 3.

Chicago’s Ed Belfour, who shut out the Canucks in Game 2, made a huge save on Brown in overtime.

“We learned against Toronto in the last series to be disciplined,” Belfour said. “We tried to stick to it this series and the guys did a good job.”