from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,

An epic playoff series needs a memorable contest to start earning that definition, and Game 2 of the Western Conference finals took care of that. The unheralded Marcus Kruger applied the dramatic ending.

A fourth-line grinder and penalty-killer by trade, Kruger put in a loose puck at 16:12 of the third overtime to cap the longest game in the 21-year-old history of Honda Center and lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Ducks and even the best-of-7 series.

An overflow crowd of 17,234 mostly decked in the Ducks' orange, black and white colors was left stunned when Kruger sent Chicago home with a series split, batting the puck past Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen after Andersen didn't make a clean stick save on a point shot by defenseman Brent Seabrook.

Kruger had just seven goals during the regular season and his other score in these playoffs came in Game 1 of the Blackhawks' second-round sweep of Minnesota. The checking center put himself in position for the winner, pulling his team even heading into Game 3 on Thursday in Chicago.

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Watch the game highlights below...