The Stanley Cup Final opened in Tampa on Wednesday night, with the Lightning hosting the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1. The Hawks entered as almost unanimous favorites, appearing in their third final in six years. However, going down early on, it was necessary that the Blackhawks come back to win 2-1.
The series began in very entertaining fashion, with Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn opening the scoring just 4:31 into the first period. Valtteri Filppula chased down a dumped puck impressively, and sent it to the point to Anton Stralman, whose shot was well wide – but perfectly placed for Killorn to bat it out of the air behind him, beating Corey Crawford. The goal was a mix of incredible hand-eye coordination on Killorn’s part, as well as some extreme fortune for him to hit it so perfectly.
The Bolts carried their lead into the third period, with goalie Ben Bishop boasting a shutout streak of well over 100 minutes. However, it’s impossible to ever count the Chicago Blackhawks out of a game. Tampa crawled into a shell in the final frame, failing even to get a shot on goal for up to nine minutes. With Chicago given ample offensive zone time, they finally solved Bishop, scoring two goals in two minutes. Rookie Teuvo Teravainen scored the tying goal, then assisted on Antoine Vermette‘s winner moments later.
Both teams failed to take advantage of any of their powerplay chances (3 for Chicago, 2 for Tampa). While the Lightning managed to generate opportunities, the Blackhawks often looked lost with the man advantage – a recurring theme this season.
The game was physical, and it looked like the Lightning were trying to aggravate the Hawks – possibly taking a note out of Anaheim’s book, who won three games through physical, aggressive play. Tampa outhit Chicago 29-21, and set a gruelling pace to the game. The rest of the series looks set to continue in much the same way, which could lead to some more low-scoring games (which, ironically enough, would seem to work against the offensively-gifted Lightning). The shot counts were kept low in Game 1, the Blackhawks having a slight edge 23-21.
The loss in Game 1 puts an end to Tampa Bay’s perfect record (9-0) when scoring the first goal in these playoffs. The Lightning will get a chance for redemption on Saturday, when they’ll try not to completely waste their coveted home ice advantage in Game 2.
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