There weren’t many fans wearing blue for Game Three of the Stanley Cup Final at the United Center, and so nearly everyone walked out of the arena disappointed with the end result. Despite playing in front of a clearly injured goaltender, the Bolts stole a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in the pivotal third contest. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but it was enough to get the job done.
And, while the United Center was certainly painted red, it's not as though Tampa fans weren't watching. Here's the scene from the team's watch party:
And over at the @TBLightning watch party... pic.twitter.com/N8bLvhV3EX
— NHL (@NHL) June 9, 2015Looking back on their night, the Blackhawks will likely feel as though they gave this one away. As mentioned, Ben Bishop was incredibly susceptible to attack right from puck drop; obviously in some distress, the big goalie struggled to move from post to post without looking like a baby giraffe. Somehow (and I don’t think anyone knows how) he made 36 saves on 38 shots. The Blackhawks couldn’t take advantage of him, which certainly feels like an opportunity missed for them.
Arguably most disappointing for the Blackhawks was their inability to turn a fantastic first period into a comfortable lead. After falling behind early in the game thanks to a perfectly placed Ryan Callahan shot, Chicago turned up the heat. The Lightning looked lost, and Bishop was ‘giraffing’ it up in his crease. The puck stayed in Tampa’s zone for what seemed like an eternity, as the home team just kept coming in waves. It was Chicago Blackhawks hockey at its finest. Check out this possession chart as evidence of their strong play:
5v5 Corsi chart from @HockeyStatsCa. TB responded nicely after being thrashed in the first. pic.twitter.com/8CiBooJ390
— Michael Stuart (@hockeybuzzstu) June 9, 2015After allowing the Hawks to test Bishop with a whopping 19 (!) shots in the first period, Tampa Bay settled in nicely. As the attached chart shows, they closed the possession gap with expert precision. That ability to reset and refresh in the first intermission likely saved the day for the Bolts, as they were truly on the ropes to end the first stanza.
It was the Lightning that turned up the heat in the second period. They fired 17 shots at Corey Crawford, who looked a whole lot more comfortable than his counterpart at the other end of the rink, but were unable to find the twine. Tampa’s failure to score in that second period didn’t feel so devastating, though, as they were dealing with a goaltender who has two good legs.
Chicago finally caught a break early in the third period when Brandon Saad scored his seventh of the postseason to put the Blackhawks up 2-1. During an underwhelming (read: incomprehensibly bad) shift from the Lightning, Saad capped off some nice puck movement with a great shot that beat a stunned Bishop. At that point, it was hard not to feel as though the Hawks would run away with things. The Lightning goalie had fought admirably, but he was clearly in pain and struggling to move. Chicago had its lead with less than 16 minutes left in the game. The win was clearly theirs, right?
Wrong.
Ondrej Palat answered back only 13 seconds later to tie the game at two. Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson, Palat banged the puck in at the side of the net for the score. It’s hard to understate how important it was for Tampa Bay to score on the shift immediately following the Saad goal. If that doesn’t happen, do the Lightning win this game? I’m not sure. Palat completely silenced the UC crowd, and squashed any momentum Chicago might have had. It was huge.
While the Palat goal probably hurt, the real dagger came in the form of Cedric Paquette’s third of the playoffs and second of the series. Scored with just over three minutes left in the game, Paquette’s goal was the end result on a beautiful end-to-end rush from Victor Hedman. It put Tampa up 3-2, giving them the lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Hedman’s second assist of the game was just icing on the cake of a monster night. The national media is really starting to notice that he is the real deal. Jon Cooper said that “this is his coming out party,… but I’d argue that he’s been a Norris-caliber defender for a while. He is Tampa Bay’s answer to so many questions. It’s hard to imagine where this team might be without him. The 13th hole, maybe?
Additionally, it was great to see Paquette get on the board again. He struggled in a big way through three rounds in the postseason, but he’s seemingly found his game on the sport’s brightest stage. He was matched up against Patrick Kane for a number of shifts, and again held him pointless. According to War-on-Ice.com, Kane was on the ice for three Chicago scoring chances and nine Tampa chances at five-on-five. It wasn’t a bad night for #13.
As the seconds ticked away, the Blackhawks tried mightily. They pulled Crawford for the extra attacker, they got the puck in the offensive zone, and they had their best players on the ice. But, they weren’t able to find the net. That’s what counts. After having complete control of the contest in the first period, the Blackhawks let the Lightning have some life later in the game. As the final score shows, it came back to haunt them. Give Tampa Bay complete credit for responding well after a dismal first frame, but it’s hard not to feel like the Blackhawks missed an opportunity here. Another goal in that first period from Chicago could have changed things in a big way.
What this victory does do for the Lightning, regardless of how it came to be, is give them home-ice advantage in the series. They gave it away in Game One at Amalie Arena, but they’ve taken it right back with a win at the United Center. The goal now is to go for two, with Game Four set to take place on Wednesday night.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.