Chicago Blackhawks Even Up The Finals With A Wild 6-5 OT Victory In Boston

Jun 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman

(7) celebrates with defenseman

(2) after scoring the game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the overtime period in game four of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports

The first period was the story of the Hero and the goat.  The Hawks came out in the first period playing hard and they had all the momentum.  The Bruins got a very early powerplay on a very soft interference call on Johnny Oduya.  The Hawks finally scored on the powerplay in this series but it was the Boston Bruins powerplay as Brandon Saad made a great play and push up the ice and fed Michal Handzus who buried it past Tuukka Rask for a 1-0 lead and short-handed goal.

The part of the hero of the first period was played by Saad but when the Bruins second powerplay was about to run out the Hawks won a faceoff but Saad couldn’t clear the puck then had a second chance to clear but fell to the ice and Rick Peverly put one past Corey Crawford glove side as Crawford didn’t move and the score was all tied up.  So as quickly as Saad was the hero he became the goat of the period.  The Hawks owned the first half of the period but the Bruins after Saad’s failed clear claimed it for the second half of the period.  The question coming out for the second would be if the Hawks could regain any of the momentum it had lost.

The second period was the first truly wild period of the series to date. The Hawks got the first goal of the period which was scored by the Captain on a deflection off a Michal Rozsival shot. It was the first goal by Jonathan Toews since Game #5 of the Detroit Red Wings series.  Next up for big guns that needed to show up tonight was Patrick Kane who picked up a rebound and buried it into an empty net.  The 3-1 lead seemed huge but it didn’t last long as a play in front of Crawford broke down and Milan Lucic put in a rebound past Crawford.  Crawford sure had the look of someone fighting it for most of the second period.

The Hawks regained a 2 goal cushion when Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger put on a nice 2 on 1 break and Kruger on a second effort put it in for a 4-2 lead. The momentum seemed to be back in the Hawks favor but the refs called a truly weak hooking call on #88 and the Bruins went on the powerplay.  Zdeno Chara put one high off the glass and a fluky bounce fell nicely into the crease and Patrice Bergeron easily put it in the back of the net.  The last second of the period was pretty crazy with three awesome chances by the Bruins including a premature horn by the Boston staff but in the end mercifully the horn sounded and the Hawks headed to the second intermission with a 4-3 lead and a crazy period had come to an end.

The third period started with Bruins scoring early in the third period tying  it up with Bergeron’s 2nd of the game after a pretty impressive two man play between him and Jaromir Jagr. The Hawks took the lead 5-4  midway through the third period when the Hawks finally broke their powerplay drought when Patrick Sharp pounced on a Marian Hossa shot from the point.  The lead was short lived by less than a minute when Johnny Boychuk tied it with a blast from the middle of the ice past Crawford’s glove hand.  The rest of the period was chances both ways but in the end for the third time in four games in this Stanley Cup Final the game was heading to overtime.  The Hawks really threw everything they had at the Bruins putting 16 third period shots on goal to the Bruins 8 but in the end it would take extra time to decide this very exciting contest.

Another overtime but this one was different than the first two games that went into extra time , because  this was a serious gut check for the Blackhawks because the series was either in dire straits at 3-1 Boston or heading back to Chicago tied up 2-2.  The Bruins had early momentum in overtime with Duncan Keith making some strange plays that left Crawford there to make some big saves after not playing very well for most of the game.  Though people thought it would be a short overtime the play went halfway through the period before Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell fired pucks at Rask but it ended up at the blue line to Brent Seabrook who was able to end it with a huge shot to the back of the net.

-The Seabrook goal ties the series up 2-2 and the Final heads back to Chicago.

-The last time the Finals had a 6-5 game it was Game #1 of the 2010 Finals which the Blackhawks won against the Philadelphia Flyers

-In Blackhawks playoff history the Hawks are now  4-0 when #19 and #88 score in the same game

-2 out of 3 Brent Seabrook goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs have been overtime game winners.

-Crawford has never given up 6 goals in a playoff game in his career.

-The Hawks improved dramatically at the faceoff dot going 38/75 for 49% after getting blown away in Game #3

–Nick Leddy only played 2:55 in Game #4 but after the game Coach Q said he was Ok? (Leddy-gate replaces Hossa-Gate)

-The key Hawks stat was 47 shots on goal which is Blackhawk hockey after a dismal effort in Game #3

-Odd fact the Hawks are 2-0 on NBC and 0-2 on NBCSN (the rest of the telecasts are on NBC)

-Two days off until Game #5 Saturday night at the United Center puck drops at 7:20pm

For More Blackhawks conversation and updates follow us on Twitter @Blackhawk_Up or check out our new Facebook page Blackhawkup.

ONE GOAL!!!!