Chicago Blackhawks Lose 4-3 Leave Tampa Tied 1-1

The Chicago Blackhawks returned to the scene of the crime on Saturday evening when they took on the Tampa Lightning in Game #2 of the Stanley Cup Final.  The Blackhawks stole Game #1 and the question of the day is what kind of answer would the Lightning offer after giving away Game #1. Here is how things transpired from Amalie Arena Saturday night.

FIRST PERIOD

The first thing you noticed about the first period was that the Chicago Blackhawks were playing from the opening bell. The Hawks had their chances while giving up some of their own, but Bishop and Crawford both had strong first periods.

Something you can easily see was that the puck was bouncing a lot in the first period, and the puck was bouncing around when the Lightning got on board first.  Kyle Cumiskey failed to clear and then almost every Chicago Blackhawks player on the ice had a chance to clear the zone, but they couldn’t and Cedric Paquette put the puck past a screen Corey Crawford for the 1-0 lead.

Crawford had a very strong first period even with the goal allowed stopping a Steven Stamkos 2 on 1.  The Lightning led the shot total 12-11 and lead after 1 period 1-0.

SECOND PERIOD

The Chicago Blackhawks needed a surge to start the period and their pesky winger Andrew Shaw provided the spark.  The 4th line had a real strong shift early in the period and after an Andrew Desjardins shot, Shaw banged home the loose change to tie up the contest.

Shortly after the goal the Chicago Blackhawks had a powerplay and a rare Teuvo Teravainen appearance on the powerplay and his appearance made for a quick goal as he took the puck off the half-boards and beat Bishop to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

The lead didn’t last long when Tampa the king of the crazy deflections beat Crawford to quickly tie up the game.  Crawford had been pretty good all game long but then he gave a super soft goal to Tyler Johnson and just like that it was 3-2 Lightning.   The Hawks took the lead but lost it, will they be able to do it again in the third period?

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THIRD PERIOD

At the beginning of the period Quenneville finally broke up Toews and Kane and the split worked perfectly from the start with Jonathan Toews feeding Brent Seabrook who blasted one past Bishop to tie the game.

The problem with the middle of the period was Patrick Sharp! Sharp took two penalties back to back and on the second penalty was the killer with the Bolts taking the lead 4-3.

The Hawks couldn’t get the tying goal though they tried very hard to, but it the puck just wouldn’t get behind Bishop.

The series is tied 1-1 and the series is heading back to Chicago.

Game #3 is Monday night!

Next: Blackhawks Playoff Milestones

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