TAMPA – Breaking down the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena .
What happened: The Blackhawks finally flipped the switch in the third period, coming from behind to beat the young Lightning. Chicago had trailed for most of the night, and it seemed goaltender Ben Bishop was completely on his game until Teuvo Teravainen and Antone Vermette scored within 1:58 of each other in the final frame.
Chicago had struggled to get scoring chances for most of the night, at one point trailing 10-3 in shots against Bishop, who won more games than anyone in the league this year (regular-season and post-season). But after taking a 1-0 lead, the shots seemed to dry up for the Lighting.
Tampa Bay won more games at home than any other team this season, but it had sputtered at Amalie for most of the post-season, holding only a 5-6 record. Bishop in particular had been vulnerable, surrendering 15 goals in his last three starts. But against Chicago, the goaltender seemed in control until the more experienced Blackhawks flexed their muscles late.
Killer music: The Lightning took a 1-0 lead on a particular nifty goal by forward Alex Killorn . Killorn took a knuckling puck from Vaterri Filppula, turned and batted it out of the air and past goaltender Corey Crawford .
Traffic jam: The Blackhawks' chances increased as the game progressed. Chicago – going for its third Stanley Cup in six seasons – started taking over, and Tampa Bay didn't manage a shot for 12 minutes at one point.
What the Blackhawks did well: Chicago has been here before, and it showed in the poise the team showed. They didn't get flustered when the game was n't going well. Instead, the Blackhawks waited out the Tampa Bay defense, and chances increased as the game went along until they were able to net those two third period goal. Crawford had a nice game in net, particularly in several point-blank shots by Steven Stamkos .
"A seeing-eye single,'' Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called the Blackhawks' opening goal by Teravainen. "You're asking us to shut down the Chicago Blackhawks for 60 minutes, which no one has done.''
What the Lightning did well: The Lightning always seems to play better when they pay attention to the traffic in front of Bishop. In those games, when the defense is blocking shots and Bishop has less to do, the netminder can be focused and effective. That was the case for most of Wednesday night's game.
What's next: Tampa Bay must try to avoid going 0-2, which would mean facing a sweep in Chicago. The Blackhawks have won the game they needed to on the road to secure home-ice advantage.
"The last half of the game, I thought we were fine," said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. "Playing catch-up against a team...basically we had to get through. But finding a way (to win) today is a good illustration of what this team's all about. Finding ways to win, probably a good example of that tonight."
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