Blackhawks win the West

CHICAGO (AP) — The Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup finals, thanks to another big goal by Big Buff.

Dustin Byfuglien scored his third go-ahead goal of the Western Conference finals, converting on a third-period power play Sunday as Chicago rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2, completing a four-game sweep that sends the Blackhawks to the finals for the first time since 1992.

The 257-pound Byfuglien was parked in front of the net with 7 seconds left on the power play. He took a nice pass from Patrick Kane and knocked the puck past Evgeni Nabokov to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead at 14:05 of the final period.

Kris Versteeg added an empty-net goal with 42 seconds left, and the red-clad fans at the United Center erupted, littering the ice with souvenir towels.

Full story appears in Monday’s edition of The Vindicator.