Blackhawks Rally against Lightning to Grab Game One

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Mary Chastain

The Chicago Blackhawks fought off a 0-1 deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning came out flying. They cradled the puck like a baby and did not allow the Hawks to touch it for the longest time. Luckily for the Hawks, Corey Crawford remained in top form. Almost 12 minutes into the period the Lightening led in shots, 8-2.

One of those shots resulted in one of the weirdest goals. Here are a few angles:

Alex Killorn perfectly deflected the puck into the net to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Amelie Arena exploded into loud cheers as the Lightning were 9-0 in the playoffs when they scored first.

Were.

The Blackhawks were not about to let it happen again, with an enormous amount of credit to goalie Corey Crawford. No scoring in period 2, but the teams provided spectators with brilliant hockey. Despite the lack of offense it is hard not to enjoy physical hockey.

But it can get too physical. Kris Versteeg tripped on Victor Hedman, over goalie Ben Bishop, and face planted right into the goal post. Thank goodness he was wearing a visor. Unfortunately, due to the rule, the referees called him for goalie interference. The clips are brutal, but he escaped with only a cut.

Amelie Arena remained loud and excited as it appeared the Lightning were going to shut out the Blackhawks. Oh, wait a second. With a short pass from Duncan Keith, Teuvo Teravainen shot the puck in the five hole to tie the game at 13:28.

The Blackhawks were back, but not satisfied with overtime. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Teravainen passed the puck to Antoine Vermette, who shot the puck right above Ben Bishop’s glove hand.

Experience matters in the Stanley Cup. The Lightning went easy on the Blackhawks, who do not sit back. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the team did not realize this until it was too late. They attempted to put pressure on the Hawks with an extra skater, but nothing worked.

Now the Hawks are only three wins away from winning the Stanley Cup, their third in six seasons. Game 2 is Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. Eastern on NBC.

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