If the game between the Caps and Pens was great, then this one played at Chicago was even better with an unpredictable script nobody could have written. Here were two teams going at it. Playing to win. Trading goals back and forth. This was electric playoff hockey. Scintillating stuff indeed.

Patrick Kane’s first career playoff hat trick proved to be the difference. The 2007-08 Calder winner took his teammates for a magic ride scoring two of the three in a wild third period that saw the teams combine for six of the 12 goals. With his team trailing a second time in the stanza after Daniel Sedin tallied his second on the power play, here came Kane 45 seconds later getting to Troy Brouwer’s spin around keep behind the net and then quickly sneaking a wrap around past a stunned Roberto Luongo. Tie game!

Canucks 5 Blackhawks 5 with 7:00 remaining

Vancouver, who had played such a good period till that point having rallied from 3-1 down, scoring three straight including Mats Sundin’s go-ahead before Adam Burish cameback to tie it at four, fell apart following Kane’s reply to Sedin’s PPG. Shane O’Brien, who earlier was about as unlikely a candidate to score when he finished off a Kevin Bieksa feed, lost discipline hooking at Dustin Byfuglien handing the Blackhawks a man-advantage. They’d already cashed in on two of three opportunities. Anyone who’s seen this Hawk club knows how resilient it is and how deadly their PP can be.

It was just an inopportune moment to get nabbed for a penalty. Especially with 22,000-plus loud screaming fans almost willing their team to get it done now. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews got them a little closer when he took a Martin Havlat pass down low and tried to thread the needle across for an open Patrick Sharp. Instead, the puck went right off the back of Alex Edler’s skate past a helpless Luongo allowing the home club to retake the lead. Bedlum!

Blackhawks 6 Canucks 5, 6:11 left

Did Vancity have one more rally in them? They tried but Nikolai Khabibulin, who made some pretty good saves for a goalie who gave up five stood his ground. The veteran Russian who won a Cup with the 2004 Lightning finished with 33 altogether including his best stop on a nifty deflection in which he somehow stuck his leg out to keep the game tied late in the second.

It’d be easy to point to Khabibulin’s counterpart Luongo, who was beaten seven times on 30 shots. But how many could you really classify bad? The Hawks did pick apart shortside high glove on at least three including Kane’s first of the game that tied it 1-1 answering Mason Raymond’s opener two minutes later. The display of skill on that goal was sick with the 20 year-old American undressing Mattias Ohlund before wiring one top shelf. It only foreshadowed what turned out to be a memorable night for No.88.

Spurred on by the crowd, the Hawks scored twice more to surge ahead 3-1 thanks to power play tallies from impressive rookie Kris Versteeg and Toews. But Vancouver never quit with Sedin coming right back 52 seconds later finishing off a great Kyle Wellwood pass with a laser. Less than four minutes later, O’Brien tied it with his first in a century. Well, literally speaking anyway.

The Canucks continued to come on in the third taking advantage of a poor line change that cost the Hawks a man. Sundin wristed one off the far post after time had expired. It may as well have been a PPG. Just like that, they led 4-3 with Game 7 16:17 away. But before they could relax, here came little used fourth liner Burish taking a Sharp feed and one-timing it in to knot it once again less than two minutes later.

It was just the kind of game it was where anything felt possible. Brouwer then shoved a Canuck forward into Luongo earning a goalie interference. It took just six seconds for Sedin to score his second when off a clean faceoff win, he took a Sami Salo pass and then walked in changing the angle to beat Khabibulin. The Canucks once again led 5-4 with a closer eye on that deciding game with 7:45 standing in the way.

One thing about these Blackhawks is they never seem to be out of a game. They just don’t get down. They’ve trailed plenty during the first couple of rounds against the pair of Canadian teams (Cgy, Van) they cameback to oust. But whenever you start to doubt them, Joel Queeneville’s young club rises up. So, Brouwer’s mistake led to the Canucks going ahead. Was it any surprise that on the next shift, he was out there doing some great board work to keep the play alive for Kane to tie it once more?

That’s how resilient this team is. Then, Toews finally put them ahead to stay 49 ticks later. But if they were to prevail, you just knew another goal had to be scored just to ensure their place in Round 3 for the first time since 1995. The Canucks pressed for the equalizer pinching their D. Sooner or later, one would get trapped leading to an odd-man rush. It happened when Kane stole the puck and went from his own blueline with trailers. What happened next was unbelievable.

Here he came one-on-one with O’Brien. Just the way he was purposely skating, you knew he wasn’t giving the puck up. Instantly, I said, “Go for the hat trick.” Either he heard me which is impossible or just instinctively wanted it turning his hand over while pushing the puck around O’Brien. Then came the sweetest backhand you’ll ever see right smack off the right goalpost and in. What happened next was Kane pumping his fist while being mobbed by teammates who shared his excitement as plenty of hats rained down from above as the Chicago fans saluted their hero.

Simply amazing. The first time they get in the playoffs in seven years and they’re going to the Conference Finals where it possibly could be an Original Six rematch of 14 years earlier versus old Norris nemesis Detroit. Not for nothing. But I like that name a whole lot more than the lame regionalized Central. Just saying.

If the Red Wings win later tonight over Anaheim, it will happen. One of the greatest rivalries will get renewed with plenty at stake. Who isn’t rooting for it at this point unless you’re a Duck fan.

As the clock ticked down to zero, the Blackhawk fans stood in unison cheering their team. They probably couldn’t believe it. It’s been a long time coming.

Yes they Kane.

Martin Brodeur took home the net he guarded during the third period of his 552^nd win, the win that pushed him past Patrick Roy to first on the all-time victories list.

The Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night, 3-2, in a special night for New Jersey’s net minder.

“It was an exciting night, I’m definitely happy its over, it’s been a little chaotic for me the last few days but it was an awesome night. It was a great reception from the fans… it was pretty cool. I thought it was pretty cool in Montreal and this topped it,” said Brodeur after the game, referring to tying Roy’s record Saturday.

Brodeur leapt off the ice as the final buzzer sounded, and began dismantling the net with help moments later. As his teammates finished the equipment surgery, Brodeur took a lap around the rink, waving to the delirious Prudential Center crowd.

“Jamie (Langenbrunner) came over and said, ‘Go take a lap, we’ll cut it down. The fans deserve it,’” explained Brodeur. “I’ve done it with the Stanley Cup on top of my head, and that was a team thing, but that was really a personal thing. It was really cool.”

Chants of “Marty! Marty!” began early in the night, and with each of his 30 saves the crowd’s approval grew louder.

His teammates showed their dedication to the pursuit of the record early in the contest. Langenbrunner took a backhand pass in the slot from Zach Parise 38 seconds into the game and fired a shot past Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.

At six minutes, just after a power play ended, Paul Martin sent a pass to Parise deep in the right corner. Parise found Travis Zajac set up on the left side of the crease, and Zajac put the puck behind Khabibulin.

Another Devil hit a milestone in the second period. With Johnny Oduya in the penalty box for closing his hand on the puck, Patrick Elias cleared the puck out of the
Blackhawk’s offensive zone to Brian Gionta on the left wing. Gionta put the puck over Khabibulin’s outstretched leg.

Elias’ assist marked his 702^nd career point as a Devil, moving past John MacLean for first all-time in the organization. The crowd gave Elias a standing ovation for accomplishing the mark, and did not stop despite the fact that Chicago converted on the remaining power play time at the other end.

Cameron Barker fired a shot from the point, and the puck went past Brodeur on the left side. Brodeur, sprawled on the ice, banged his stick in disappointment.

The Blackhawks made the game interesting, making sure Brodeur worked the entire 60 minutes for the record, by scoring with 2:03 left on the clock.

The Devils were unable the clear the puck out of the Chicago offensive zone, and Dustin Byfuglien fired the puck over Brodeur’s glove hand.

Chicago kept the pressure on by pulling the goalie, but Brodeur made a final kick save as the final horn sounded, and the celebration began.

“It’s special, obviously. There’s so much emotion in the building again tonight, this obviously being a home game and having the tremendous support that the fans give this hockey team and to see the way it was here tonight, and obviously everyone was aware of what was going on,” said coach Brent Sutter.

“It’s a special night. There’s not question about it. And to be part of it is pretty neat,” he added.

Brodeur’s family was in attendance, including his father, Denis, who photographed the game from his seat. The goaltender was anxious to see his children after his media duties were complete.

Commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance, but declined to comment in person. He released a statement through his office to congratulate Brodeur.

In nine games since returning from injury, Brodeur won eight games to reach the milestone.

The Devils traveled to Carolina to face the Hurricanes Wednesday. Kevin Weekes will start in goal in relief for Brodeur.

Brodeur has been the safety net for the Devils for 552 victories since he entered the league 17 seasons ago. Tuesday, the net was for him alone.

After taking the two games in Prague last weekend, the Blueshirts opened up their North American schedule last night with a 4-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks to push their record to a league best 3-0. Of course, the Rangers have played more games than most of the league, but that hardly mattered to the ecstatic Garden crowd.

What’s important is that the Rangers are playing as a cohesive unit, especially after all the changes this past summer.

“We worked really hard,” said netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who owns a goals against average of 1.33 in the three games. “It feels good to get in here and get some confidence and get comfortable with new teammates.”

The newly constructed second line of Aaron Voros, Brandon Dubinsky and Nikolai Zherdev looked very at ease as they dominated the game with three of the four Ranger goals – one from each player – and four of the team’s six assists. Coach Tom Renney said he thought the combination might work out when he saw the three playing in training camp.

“We were paired a bit in pre-season,” said Voros, who came to the Rangers as a free-agent from Minnesota. “And the three of us hang out quite a bit off the ice and that makes for a pretty good chemistry because there are no egos.”

It worked as a nice blend for the three players as they took over the game in the second period. After Wade Redden and Patrick Kane traded goals in the first, Voros scored at 5:15 in the middle 20 to break the tie. First, Dubinsky stripped the puck from ‘Hawk’s center Dave Bolland and then zoomed into the zone with the rolling disk. The sophomore center fed Voros for the one timer, which beat Cristobal Huet to give the Blueshirts the lead for good.

And a little over 10 minutes later, Dubinsky scored his tally unassisted to make it 3-1 and the Rangers were cruising.

“You can see the sum of the parts,” Renney said. “I certainly liked it, as I imagine every Rangers fan did.”

What the 117th consecutive sellout crowd didn’t like was in the third when Chicago staged a comeback. Duncan Keith cut the lead to 3-2 to put the Rangers on edge 7:14 into the third and the team had 14 shots in that period, which was all Henrik Lundqvist could handle.

“We had about 30 shots and missed the net ten to a dozen times,” said Blackhawks coach Denis Savard. “We had good chances where we could have buried some of them.”

Ultimately, Lundqvist made 30 saves on the night and Zherdev gave him some breathing room when Voros was able to feed him with a little over 10 minutes left. It was Dubinsky’s third point of the game, which allowed Lundqvist to cruise.

“We have to be happy with [tonight] and take some of the good things we did and focus on some of the bad things,” Dubinsky said. “It’s a very special thing [to be a Ranger]. It’s exciting and I want to be that player fans like, because I am willing to put it on the line every night for my teammates.”

Notes: The Rangers will travel to Philadelphia tomorrow for the Flyers’ home opener. Republican Vice Presidential candidate and self-proclaimed “hockey mom” Sarah Palin will drop the first puck…Captain Chris Drury and Markus Naslund assisted on Redden’s goal in the first…Huet had 25 saves on the night…Soon to be number retirees Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell, and Adam Graves dropped the ceremonial first puck.