CHICAGO: Ben Smith scored on a rebound at 15:30 of overtime as the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 Sunday night to force a seventh game in the opening-round series. The Canucks, with the NHL's best record during the regular season, have lost three straight after it appeared they were in control of the series. Game 7 is Tuesday night in Vancouver. Chicago is 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, a rookie, scored after Niklas Hjalmarsson's shot from the point bounced off goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo didn't start the game but was called upon in the third period when Cory Schneider had to be helped off the ice when he was injured as he tried to stop Michael Frolik's penalty shot that tied it at 3. Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland also added goals for the Blackhawks, and Chicago goalie Corey Crawford made 32 saves, including 12 in overtime when the Canucks appeared ready to win the game and end the series. Daniel Sedin, Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieska scored for the Canucks. Flyers 5, Sabres 4, OT: At Buffalo, New York, Ville Leino scored 4:43 into overtime to help the Philadelphia Flyers force Game 7 in their first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres. Danny Briere scored twice and Brian Boucher stopped 24 shots over the final two periods and overtime in a 5-4 victory Sunday in the tightly contested Eastern Conference series. Game 7 is Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Predators 4, Ducks 2: At Nashville, Nick Spaling scored his second goal of the game at 4:53 of the third period as Nashville closed out its first postseason series victory to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. Steve Sullivan also scored and David Legwand had an empty-netter for the Predators. Jordin Tootoo assisted on Spaling's goals. Nashville won the series 4-2 in their sixth postseason in seven seasons. Jason Blake scored a power-play goal, and Teemu Selanne also had a goal for the Ducks, his sixth of the series. Anaheim lost in the opening round for the third time in seven playoffs. The fifth-seeded Predators must wait for their next opponents.
