Lightning take 2-1 series lead over Blackhawks
CHICAGO — If the Blackhawks go on to lose the Stanley Cup Final, they may look back at Game 3 as the one that got away.
Even with Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop struggling to stay upright throughout the game, the Lightning and Bishop found a way to defeat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Monday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at the United Center to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Cedric Paquette scored from the slot off a pass from defenseman Victor Hedman at 16 minutes, 49 seconds of the third period for the winning goal.
It was a productive night for Hedman, who also helped set up the Lightning’s first goal of the night with a stretch pass to Ryan Callahan, who put the Lightning ahead 1-0 with a rocket shot past Crawford in the first period. Bishop finished the game with 36 saves.
Brandon Saad put the Hawks ahead in the third period 2-1 with a goal from the slot at 4:14 but the Lightning wasted little time in answering. Just 13 second later, Andrej Palat stuffed in a loose puck at 4:27 to tie the score when the United Center crowd wasn’t done singing “Chelsea Dagger” to celebrate Saad’s goal.
The Hawks were firing on all cylinders in the first period after Callahan’s goal and dominated the next 14-plus minutes of play in the period. They ended up with 19 shots on goal from the period. By comparison, they had 21 in all of Game 1.
But the Hawks had several missed opportunities at open nets against Bishop, who seemed hurt and slow to react throughout the period.
Marian Hossa missed a wide open net after faking Bishop, then Teuvo Teravainen missed an open net off a rebound.
The Hawks finally got on the board during a power play when Brad Richards’ shot from the point deflected off Bishop’s glove and into the net.
In the second period with the Hawks shorthanded, Brandon Saad took the puck toward the net and ran into Bishop, drawing a goaltender interference penalty. Bishop remained on the ice for several seconds before getting up and staying in net. The Hawks killed off the ensuing 5-on-3 penalty for 1:26, drawing a standing ovation from the Center crowd in the process.
Hawks defenseman Johnny Oduya left the ice for the final 7:44 of the second period and went back to the dressing room but came back out for the third period.
