CHICAGO – Much has been written about the Chicago Blackhawks big-time players not scoring in the Stanley Cup Final with the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Hawks trailing the series 2-1 and in need of a win, Jonathan Toews scored the opening goal of the game and Brandon Saad finished it for a 2-1 win.
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Patrick Sharp (10) and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrate a scored goal (Patrick Gorski/PHN) (Patrick Gorski/PHN)
“I think we’ve definitely been talking, everyone has been talking about our team starting the game with the lead. Tonight it took us about a period and a bit. We found a way to get that first one,” Toews said of his goal. “I think we’ve seen in this series, the brief times we’ve had the lead, they bounce back really hard. We always have to kind of survive an onslaught.
“I think tonight we did a better job of responding after we scored goals, especially in the third period. You can definitely expect their team to come out as hard and press late in the game when they’re down a goal. It’s going to get crazy in some moments. I think we did a pretty good job of handling it.”
The Hawks and Lightning now head back to Tamp Bay with the series knotted at two all.
“I thought we had a good second. We had some good quality stuff at their net that we were better than we were in the first period, generated some flow in our game,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said of his team’s effort through the first forty minutes of play. “Third period we got the lead. They came at us. They’re a dangerous team. If we’re not aware by now, that’s a good hockey team. That’s where we’re at. “
It wasn’t easy for Chicago which had a total of three shots on goal through the first 20+ minutes of play.
Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle (11) falls on Chicago Blackhawks center Brad Richards (91) in front of the net (Patrick Gorski/PHN)
“I think we were on them. I know the series is tied 2-2, but we’ve had a chance to win every single game. You can’t ask for more than that from your team,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I thought we were defending really well. We weren’t letting them hold on to the puck and dance around the offensive zone which they have a tendency to do when they’re rolling. We took the puck out of their hands early, then we possessed.
“A little bit of that, too, is we had power plays. That’s going to go in our favor a little bit. I thought we defended really well. Like I said, they got a couple breaks around the net.
“Both goals, they got some bounces. Toews gets a bounce right to him, and Saad loses control of the puck, but it stays on his skate, drags to him. So they worked hard. They capitalized on their breaks. We had some unbelievable open looks that hit a stick, hit something, and didn’t go in. That’s what you got to love about this sport; you never know what’s going to happen.”
Toews scored at the 6:41 mark as the Lightning got caught in a messy line change. Marian Hossa put the puck on net and Patrick Sharp got a piece of the puck to redirect to the right of Bolts goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Toews had rushed deep and was on the spot when the puck dropped in the crease for a tap in.
Vasilevskiy made 17 saves in the loss as a starter in place of Ben Bishop.
“If you tell me we’re going to come in and he’s going to give up two goals, that’s a hell of a job in my book,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said of his rookie netminder. “We’ve had a lot of success when we’ve only given up two. We win more of those games than we do. We did everything we asked that kid. That kid gave us a chance to win the hockey game. We just scored one. We got to score more than that.
“But I thought he was great. And as I’ve said, I’ve said this during the series, it doesn’t matter which guy we put in there, we’ve got full confidence in both guys. He showed the pinnacle of the sport, that he can play. That’s a pretty big achievement for a 20-year-old.”
Vasilevskiy was in his first start in the Stanley Cup playoffs and faced only two shots in the first period when the Lightning continued their defensive effort against the Blackhawks. Chicago looked disorganized for most of the first half of the game and Toews goal was not a thing of beauty as much as the greasy goal they really needed.
Alex Killorn tied the game at one all in the middle frame on a delayed penalty call on the play.
Patrick Kane got on the scoresheet in Game 4 with a tap pass to Saad down low and Saad corralled the puck and swatted at the rolling puck sending between Vasilevskiy’s pads for the eventual game-winner.
Corey Crawford was huge in the dying minutes of the third period as the Lightning finally found some of their offensive push; he made 24 saves on the night including some game-savers in the final 90 seconds.
Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) (Patrick Gorski/PHN) (Patrick Gorski/PHN)
“We know it’s a big game. We’re impressed. But we’re definitely not surprised that Crow shows up and plays the way he did,” Toews said Crawford’s effort. “We obviously need him that way this time of year, with the guns, the ability, the offensive talent that they have, to make the stops that he made tonight. Obviously we need him to win games like this.
“He’s been a huge part of our success. Every time things maybe don’t quite go our way for a couple games, for some reason he’s the one who takes the majority of the responsibility. I don’t know why. I mean, at the end of the day he’s a selfless player and a great teammate. He’s ready for whatever. Tonight was another great performance for him. We want to continue to help him as much as we can.”
Game 5 is back I Tampa Saturday.
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