Chicago won a triple overtime thriller against Nashville 3-2 on Thursday to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.
Calgary also went up 3-1 in its all-Canadian series against Vancouver, Washington squared its series against the New York Islanders at 2-2 with an overtime victory, and Detroit went up 2-1 against Tampa Bay.
Chicago's Brent Seabrook scored on a booming slap shot one minute into the third overtime to finally settle the marathon contest.
Seabrook's long drive beat screened Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne on the 100th shot of the game.
Rookie goalie Scott Darling made 50 saves for the Blackhawks, who can close out the Predators with a win in Nashville on Thursday.
Colin Wilson and James Neal scored for Nashville, which carried a 2-1 lead into the third period. Rinne finished with 45 stops.
The first overtime featured a memorable duel between Rinne, who found some of the magic he had during Nashville's strong start to the season, and Darling, who was making his second career postseason start.
Calgary's Jiri Hudler had a goal and an assist as the Flames beat Vancouver 3-1.
Johnny Gaudreau scored his first playoff goal and 18-year-old rookie Sam Bennett had his second in as many games.
Dennis Wideman had a pair of assists for the Flames, who split the first two games of the series in Vancouver before back-to-back wins at home.
Goaltender Jonas Hiller made 28 saves during the win.
Captain Henrik Sedin scored for the Canucks. Starter Eddie Lack was pulled after giving up three goals on seven shots in the first period. Ryan Miller turned away the 15 he faced in relief.
The Flames head to Vancouver with the chance to win the series in Thursday's Game Five and move past the first round for the first time since 2004.
Washington's Nicklas Backstrom scored 11:09 into overtime to lift the Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the Islanders.
Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek made 22 saves for his first postseason shutout, helping the Red Wings defeat Tampa Bay 3-0.
Pavel Datsyuk, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening scored for Detroit.
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