If you were watching Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC last night, chances are you wouldn’t have immediately known that Patrick Kane had scored the goal to give the Chicago Blackhawks their first NHL championship since 1961.
Kane was the only person who knew that his shot had gone under the stick of Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton at 4:06 in overtime to give Chicago a 4-3 win.
After Kane’s shot went into the goal, he skated behind the net and raised his arms in celebration. The goal light never illuminated and the referee never signaled that a goal had been scored.
No one other than Kane appeared to know what was going on for a few moments, as fans in attendance and those watching at home were left guessing.
NBC announcers Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk were of no help to viewers after Kane’s goal, with neither of them having any clue the Blackhawks had just won Lord Stanley’s Cup.
With no visual evidence to guide him, Emrick was unable to give viewers a thunderous response to Chicago’s win, turning the Blackhawks’ first Stanley Cup in 49 years into an anti-climatic moment.
With Kane’s goal giving Chicago the victory, it ended the Flyers unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Philadelphia entered the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference but knocked out 2nd-seeded New Jersey in the first round. The Flyers overcame a 3-0 deficit against Boston in the second round to advance to the Eastern Conference finals where they defeated Montreal.
After losing the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals to Chicago, Philadelphia roared back to take games 3 and 4 to tie the series.
On Wednesday night Philadelphia scored a late goal to tie the game at 3, sending Game 6 into overtime.
Despite the delay in acknowledging the Blackhawks victory, Chicago’s win culminated a terrific Stanley Cup Finals.
The Blackhawks ended the longest championship drought in the NHL. Kane is the first player to score the Stanley Cup clinching goal in overtime since Jason Arnott did it for New Jersey at Dallas in 2000.
The Flyers have lost their last six Stanley Cup Finals appearances, their last championship coming in 1975.
Watch the video of Chicago’s Patrick Kane scoring the winning goal to give the Blackhawks the Stanley Cup.
