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Blackhawks survive 'worst game in a while' to trip up Lightning, tie up Stanley Cup Final 2-2

Blackhawks survive 'worst game in a while' to trip up Lightning, tie up Stanley Cup Final 2-2

CHICAGO — Through 20 minutes, they had two shots. Through 25 minutes, they had three. The Chicago Blackhawks have so much star power – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and company – but they couldn’t take advantage of the fact the Tampa Bay Lightning had started a 20-year-old rookie in net. The kid hardly had to make any saves.

“That was probably our worst game in a while, for whatever reason,” said veteran center Brad Richards. “We really wanted it, but we just kept getting in each other’s way.”

Yet in the end Wednesday night, the Blackhawks won, 2-1, and tied the Stanley Cup Final, 2-2. This was an uneven game, and this has been an uneven series – dull, then exciting; tight, then up-and-down. But for four full games these teams have been tied or separated by a goal, and this one wasn’t over until Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford survived a Tampa Bay flurry in the final minute. We know we have two talented, worthy teams. That’s about it. We have no idea what’s going to happen game to game or even period to period.

The Bolts' 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy was the surprise starter in place of injured Ben Bishop. (Getty)
The Bolts' 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy was the surprise starter in place of injured Ben Bishop. (Getty)

“I know the series is tied, 2-2,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “But we’ve had a chance to win every single game. You can’t ask for more than that from your team.”

The Lightning could have won Game 1. The Lightning should have won Game 1. But the Bolts tried to sit on a 1-0 lead and lost, 2-1. They won Game 2, 4-3, even though No. 1 goaltender Ben Bishop left twice in the third period. They won Game 3, 3-2, even though Bishop clearly was in pain because of his undisclosed injury. When he hit the ice, he struggled to stand up.

Bishop didn’t play in Game 4. He didn’t even dress. The start went to Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is a top prospect but had played only 19 NHL games, including three in the playoffs. Backing up was Kristers Gudlevskis, who is top prospect, too, but had played even less, only four NHL games, two in the playoffs.

The Bolts were the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season – Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and company – but have proven capable of playing shutdown defense, despite their wobble in Game 1. They shut out the New York Rangers in Games 5 and 7 in the Eastern Conference final, both by 2-0 scores, both at Madison Square Garden.

For a while Wednesday night, it looked like the Bolts might do something similar and protect their young goaltender. They kept the pressure on, hounding the Blackhawks, getting in lanes, blocking exit routes. They forced turnovers. They forced penalties. The ’Hawks would get frustrated, try to do too much and fall into their trap. Richards said the ’Hawks were talking about it on the bench.

“I know everybody talks about how offensive they are,” Richards said. “But that’s the tightest-checking team we’ve played all year.”

But for all the talk about that, the Bolts weren’t generating much at even strength, either. The Blackhawks hit a post, then another. Then Toews chipped a rebound. Vasilevskiy kicked to his right – and kicked the puck in off the inside of the post. Though the ’Hawks had only five shots through 26:40, they had a 1-0 lead.

Now, in the first three games of this series, the winning team came back from some kind of deficit. A 1-0 lead didn’t mean much. Halfway through the game, with the shots 15-6 for Tampa Bay, Alex Killorn buried a sweet feed from Valtteri Filppula at 11:47 of the second. The game was tied. Keith saved a goal late in the period by using his stick to foil a wraparound by Kucherov. Your eyes told you Tampa Bay was the better team.

Funny, though. Through 40 minutes, the gap had closed in shots on goal. The Bolts had a 17-14 edge, and the Blackhawks had more shots on goal (12-10) and more shot attempts (30-27) at even strength. The score was 1-1. Who was really better?

Corey Crawford withstood a furious flurry by the Bolts in the closing moments to preserve Chicago's victory. (Reuters)
Corey Crawford withstood a furious flurry by the Bolts in the closing moments to preserve Chicago's victory. (Reuters)

“If it’s a tie game,” Kane said, “that’s not a bad position to be in the playoffs.”

Kimmo Timonen, the struggling, 40-year-old defenseman making his series debut for the ’Hawks, hit a crossbar early in the third. Brandon Saad scored what would be the winner at 6:22.

The difference, as it so often does, came down to little things and luck. Saad grabbed a loose puck after a faceoff. He went to the net. He had space because Richards, a savvy veteran, tied up the stick of Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman, with whom he once played in New York.

“I don’t think I invented that play,” Richards said with a smile. “But it worked.”

Vasilevskiy put down his paddle. He broke up the play but not enough. The puck skidded in front, and Saad settled himself and raked a backhand shot without really aiming. The puck slipped underneath Vasilevskiy’s pads. Was it because he was 20? Because he was so green? Not necessarily. Still, it was a tough goal to give up in that situation. Cooper said Bishop would play again in the series; he just didn’t know which game. He’ll have had four days off by Game 5 on Saturday night.

The goaltending story shifted to Crawford. The Bolts ended up outshooting the Blackhawks, 25-19, and they took the game’s final four shots in the final 1:47. They had seven shot attempts in the final 66 seconds. Stamkos, one of the best goal-scorers on the planet, had glorious chances.

“I’ll be honest,” Cooper said. “I don’t know how one of those didn’t go in. I’m sure there were 22,000 nervous people in the stands when we were zipping it around there.”

Sure were. But they’ve seen this before, too. They have seen the Blackhawks win the Cup in 2010, win the Cup in 2013 and go to Game 7 of the Western Conference final last year. They have seen coach Joel Quenneville mix up the lines the way he did Wednesday night. They have seen the Blackhawks win lots of games they should – and lots of games they shouldn’t.

“No matter what the situation is, whether we’re down in a series or a hockey game, whatever it may be, we tend to play our best when our backs are against the wall,” Kane said. “Not saying we had our best effort tonight, but we still found a way to win. This team has a lot of experience. We can draw on past situations. We get into these situations, we know they’re great opportunities.”

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