The Boston Bruins needed a victory with their backs against the wall to force a seventh game in their series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins went out and played a strong and skillful game, allowing them to lead for much of the third period.

In the end, however, their strategy only ALMOST worked.

The Blackhawks scored twice, 17 seconds apart, in the final 1:16 of regulation to tie and then take the lead, going on to defeat the stunned Bruins 3-2 to win their second Stanley Cup in the past four years.

The Bruins scored the first goal of the final period when a bad giveaway by Duncan Keith behind the Chicago net turned into the go-ahead goal for Milan Lucic and the Bruins:





The Bruins held on for quite awhile and looked like they might be able to win the game just by protecting their one-goal lead. Bryan Bickell scored a positively gigantic goal with 1:16 remaining to tie the game at two goals apiece, however, and the rest is going to be history.





With the Bruins reeling and looking ahead to overtime, the Blackhawks scored again as Dave Bolland was able to give the Blackhawks a lead with his putback in front of the net:





Let's take a look at the three big questions we were tracking in Game 6:

Can the Blackhawks win without overtime?

In the most exciting fashion possible, yes. They did it.

Will the Bruins ride the home crowd?

The Bruins had a dominant performance in the first period as they were cheered on by a raucous Boston crowd and the arena was deafening late in the third when the Bruins scored to take the lead again. The crowd couldn't do anything to stop the quick goals late in the third from the Blackhawks, though, and Boston fans had to watch Chicago win the Cup.

Can Frolik and Kruger keep it up?

Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger helped the Blackhawks kill off all four penalties they incurred in the game and Kruger even assisted on the Cup-winning goal from Bolland. Chicago's depth paid off big time.

More in the NHL:

Follow @SBNationNHL

• Complete Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage

• Why you shouldn’t cheer for Chicago, by a Boston fan

• ’Boston must pay,’ writes a Chicago fan

• The best of our hockey network