The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs continued Tuesday night with two pivotal Game 3s and there was plenty of action throughout both contests.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild saw their series shift to St. Paul with the home team hoping to avoid digging itself into a 3-0 hole while the Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames skated at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time this postseason with the hosts also trying to notch their first win of the series.
In the end, the Blackhawks topped the Wild 1-0 to take a 3-0 series lead while the Flames picked up a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 victory in overtime over the Ducks.
Here are the five best goals from Tuesday's action:
5) Patrick Maroon: With the Ducks trailing 1-0 in the first period, Sami Vatanen fired the puck from the blue line down the right side to Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, who quickly darted the puck across the ice to Maroon. Maroon then buried the puck past Karri Ramo at 6:57 of the opening frame to tie the game at 1-1 and complete the fast-paced tick-tack passing play.
4) Joe Colborne: With his team down 2-1 in the second period and facing a shorthanded situation, Colborne took advantage after Hampus Lindholm fell to the ice. Colborne was all alone on a breakaway, skating in on Ducks netminder Frederik Andersen. Colborne faked a backhand, causing Andersen to bite and he then quickly went left and deposited the puck into the empty cage to tie the game at 2-2 4:17 into the second stanza.
3) Patrick Kane: The Blackhawks winger's tally 14:06 into the first period of Game 3 was the only goal of the game and helped propel Chicago to a 3-0 series lead. Andrew Shaw corralled the puck and passed it to Kane at the left circle and he fired it past Devan Dubnyk through the five-hole for a power play goal to give the Blackhawks a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Kane extended his point streak to six games and it marked the third straight contest that he found the twine in this series. It was also Kane's second game-winner in a row.
2) Johnny Gaudreau: With the Flames trailing 3-2 against the Ducks in the third period, the team was livid following a controversial no-goal call on 18-year-old Sam Bennett's shot on Andersen following a review. Johnny Hockey, however, turned that anger into jubilation. The Calder Trophy finalist slowly skated in flanked by his teammates, paused a minute and fired a shot from the right circle past Andersen to tie the game at 3-3 with only 20 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the Saddledome into a frenzy.
1) Mikael Backlund: Backlund picked a great time to score his first career playoff goal as his shot from the blue line beat Andersen 4:24 into overtime to give Calgary a 4-3 win and cut its series deficit to 2-1. Backlund's goal snapped the Ducks perfect 6-0 streak to start the postseason. The Flames improved to 4-0 on home ice in the 2014-15 playoffs.
There have been plenty of great goals during the 2014-15 Quest for the Cup, and Tuesday night was no different.
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