Blackhawks don’t dominate, but they win to tie series
CHICAGO— Like a fighter waiting to hear the bell signal an end to a round, the Chicago Blackhawks cling to the ropes, mouths wide open, somehow very much alive in the final. Barely. Just how they ineffectively battled through much of Game 4 is another matter for a team desperately in need of two days off before Saturday night’s Game 4. They had no knockout punch: They spent much of the night turning the puck over, missing on passes, squandering opportunities and still finding a way for a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to even the Stanley Cup final 2-2.
Give the Lightning credit: With rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal, the youngest Cup final starter since Patrick Roy in 1986, the Lightning played near perfect road hockey. They gave up few scoring chances. Made few mistakes. Won their share of puck battles. But didn’t generate enough tangible offence to take a two-game lead as the series returns to Tampa.
In a way, the old expression came back to haunt the Lightning. Safe was death for them.
So Saad for Tampa
Vasilevskiy didn’t have to be spectacular But he was solid, looking slightly awkward on the winning goal by Brandon Saad. Other than the goal and a couple of Chicago posts, he was relatively sturdy in goal. The 2-1 goal was scored at 6:22 of the third period.
The skinny
Corey Crawford made a strong first period save of Tyler Johnson, probably his best save of the first 20 minutes ... Chicago looked like a tired team in the first or maybe its just having difficulty with the speed of the Lightning. Early on, Tampa won all the loose puck and physical battles. Hawks didn’t get their first shot on Vasilevskiy until 8:20 of the first period and only had one more shot in the period. Neither were anything resembling scoring chances ... Toews does so many little things, like lifting Steven Stamkos’s stick just as it looked like the Tampa captain was in perfect position to score ... The Hawks have a much better record being outshot in the playoffs than outshooting the opposition.
Hits and misses
Stamkos’s ice time in Game 1 of the final became something of an issue. He was the sixth most utilized forward by coach Jon Cooper. And when he didn’t play in the final minute while trailing by a goal, that matter got even more intense. Well, since Game 1, Stamkos’s ice has gone from 17:17 to 21:54 in Game 3, an increase of more than four minutes. He played 19:43 at even strength in Game 3, almost five minutes more than in Game 1. In Game 4, he played 20:40 ... For the second year in a row, hockey analytics have taken a slight beating in the final. The team that has won the shots on goal battle and the shot attempts battle and is in better puck possession has lost all four games of the Cup final to date. The better faceoff team has lost three of four final games. And oddly enough, the Blackhawks had only won 28.6 per cent of games in the post-season in which they have outshot the opposition.