Tuch sends Chicago home
Wing’s goal early in third snaps tie, clinches first-round series
Most analytics predicted the Golden Knights would have an easy time in the Western Conference quarterfinals against a Chicago Blackhawks team that finished last in its division.
But Chicago made the Knights work hard to advance.
Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal 1:34 into the third period Tuesday, and the Knights earned a hardfought 4-3 win in Game 5 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Knights are the first team to advance and will await their opponent in the semifinals. If Colorado and Dallas advance, the top-seeded Knights will play the winner of the St. Louis-vancouver series that is tied at 2.
Tuch, who scored the overtime winner against the Avalanche to clinch the top seed in the round robin, gave the Knights their third one-goal victory in the series.
He entered the zone with speed down the left
wing, and after Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford stopped the initial shot, Tuch knocked in the rebound. It was his fourth goal of the playoffs, tied with Mark Stone and Shea Theodore for the team lead.
The Knights have outscored opponents 11-3 in the third period this postseason.
Coach Pete Deboer made a statement with his starting goaltender, selecting Robin Lehner to try to close out the Blackhawks.
Lehner’s miscue in the first period of Game 4 led to Chicago’s winning goal, but he bounced back from his first loss in a Knights uniform.
Lehner made 23 stops and won for the fifth time in six postseason games. He has not allowed more than three goals in any of his nine appearances with the Knights since being acquired at the trade deadline in February.
Chicago’s stars had been held in check through the first four games of the series, but showed up in force to try to extend the Blackhawks’ season.
Jonathan Toews and Alex Debrincat scored in the first period. Patrick Kane added his first goal of the series when he cashed in a Knights turnover to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead at 4:02 of the second.
Defenseman Alec Martinez tied the score less than three minutes later with a one-timer that broke an 0-for-11 drought by the Knights on the power play.
Max Pacioretty tallied his first goal of the postseason
in the first period, and Stone scored early in the second period for the Knights.
William Karlsson added two assists.
The Knights returned center Paul Stastny to the lineup after he was unfit to play the past two games, and Chandler Stephenson bumped from the first line to the fourth.
But they had to play from behind for the second straight game, as Toews registered his first goal of the series at 10:32 of the first period.
Lehner was unable to control the rebound on Dominik Kubalik’s backhand, and Chicago’s captain swooped in to swat the loose puck past his former teammate before defensemen Nate Schmidt and Brayden Mcnabb could recover.
Toews tied Steve Larmer for fifth in Blackhawks history with his 45th career playoff goal.
Chicago capitalized on an offensive-zone turnover by the Knights to go ahead 2-0 late in the first. Debrincat finished off a pretty passing
sequence for his second goal in as many games before the Knights answered with 30.2 seconds left in the period.
Mcnabb fired a shot from the point and the puck deflected off Toews’ stick to Pacioretty, who was camped at the side of the net and scored to ignite the Knights.