Blackhawks pull off great escape

The Chicago Blackhawks mounted a stirring come back as they rallied from five goals down to claim a 6-5 overtime win against the Calgary Flames. The Flames scored five goals in just five first-period minutes as Dustin Boyd, Eric Nystrom, Jarome Iginla, René Bourque and Olli Jokinen were on target, but John Madden pulled one back with two minutes left in the period as Chicago looked to regroup.

Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien and Dave Bolland pulled the score back to 5-4 in the second period before Patrick Sharp forced overtime with the leveller. Brent Seabrook was the man who delivered the decisive blow in the added period as he found the net after 26 seconds to seal a stunning fightback. "A pretty amazing game," the Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "From the worst to as good as you can get."

The Colorado Avalanche improved to 3-1-1 with a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins. The Avalanche moved into a 2-0 lead in the first as Milan Hejduk and Scott Hannan netted within a minute of each other. The Bruins levelled in the second through Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler but Boston were on level terms for less than four minutes before Marek Svatos scored on a powerplay. David Jones then scored short-handed with just more than three minutes left in the second to make it 4-2, and although Michael Ryder pulled one back, the Bruins could not force overtime.

The New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur was the hero as the Devils prevailed 3-2 in a shoot-out against the Washington Capitals. * With agencies