The Bruins' solid defense and superb patience laid the groundwork for tallies by Lucic (above). A glancing :51 into the second period, and just like that the Hawks were down 2 - 0. Krejci, Horton and Lucic are one, two, three among points leaders in the playoffs, and it was firsthand fireworks on the Hawks.
Brandon Saad had a stellar rookie season. Wearing his age on his jersey (#20), he had been called a "man-child" by Jonathan Toews for his big body, aggressive play, and offensive prowess. But three tough series under his suspenders, and he hadn't lit the lamp, yet. Good things do come, however, for those who persist. Just 2:17 after the déjà vu by Lucic, he whistled a half-slapper, half-wrister past Tuukka Rask. The scoreboard was now 2 - 1, with a lot of hockey left.
By the third period, Hawks cracked their fortress of a defense. For example, they altered their up-ice strategy by having a puck-handler like Patrick Kane come down closer to our zone, and take a shorter pass. He would skate up ice, and bring the puck into the Bruins zone; or find a skater, make another short pass in the neutral zone, and closely tag-team the rush.
Through 6:09 of the third period, when the Bruins went up 3 - 1, the game was clearly on hand and theirs to lose. Conveniently for the giant of a man, Michael Frolik got his stick entangled, and down went the towering Zdeno Chara. Literally just seconds into their power play, Bergeron shot far post on Corey Crawford and it clanked loudly on metal for a score.
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| Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz looked on, as a thrilling Stanley Cup match unfolded (image credit) |
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| The United Center crowd did plenty of nail-biting, and cheered cautiously it seemed (image credit) |
It didn't look good, did it, to be down 3 - 1 to the topnotch Bruins. Ah, but the Hawks must've been quietly salivating at seeing streaks of daylight in their vaunted defense. So just 6:05 after that third goal by Bergeron, the Hawks had tied the game, with tallies by Dave Bolland and Johnny Oduya. Suddenly, it was a brand new game. Tuukka Rask and the layers of defense in front of him gave up a mere two goals in their Penguins sweep, but the Hawks had already scored more than that in Game 1.
It was such a thrill to watch the Hawks in the Stanley Cup, as a long-time fan, and to be treated to the best hockey that the NHL could offer. Two gladiators, both, I tweeted to a friend. This was championship hockey, baby, I posted. But little did any of us know, at this point in the third period, that there would be absolutely no scoring for more than 60 minutes of play.
The NHL Network featured Corey Crawford in several highlights, and for good reason as the stellar netminder made one unbelievable stop after another. So he is our man of the hour.
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| Another one in the glove for the Crow-cum-Cobra, who was all eyes on that puck (image credit) |
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The Hawks and Bruins nearly played a second game, and NBC was unwavering in its extended coverage. For the second game in a row, we went deep into OT.
In late April, the Bulls took the Nets to triple OT in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs, and came out of the United Center with an insanely thrilling victory. They were down by a wide margin in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, then little Nate Robinson made like Superman and pushed the game into OT.
On Wednesday night, which tipped past midnight, the Bulls' fellow athletes on the ice gutted out one of the longest games in NHL history. I watched from our bedroom TV, and kept my PC in the study. At an opportune moment, I ran to comment on our open thread in our Google+ community and check my feed on Twitter.
The match simply would not end, as I realized it was getting quite late and my wife had decided to sleep downstairs. So I ran back-and-forth quietly, and cheered and jeered quietly. I was bouncing up-and-down in front of the TV, and talking to it like a
madman.
Mind you, the Hawks had terrific opportunities as well in the OT sessions. But Rask was up to the task.
The Hawks and Bruins were a draw on the outright hits (61 - 59), but the physical play extended to mini-battles in the trenches.
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| Jonathan Toews won 52% of his faceoffs, each one crucial, especially in the OT sessions (image credit) |
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| Johnny Boychuk got away with a holding, cross-checking, or roughing call (image credit) |
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| Andrew Shaw was fearless as usual, even with the giantly Zdeno Chara (image credit) |
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| Andrew Shaw did not seem to care that his mug was pushed around (image credit) |
So time now for an Andrew Shaw interlude, and we begin with his dramatic skate in front of the crowd.
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| Andrew Shaw saluted the crowd, after being named first star of the game (image credit) |
More than halfway through the third OT, Shaw and Bryan Bickell played the puck as it came from behind the Bruins net, then sprung it loose for a pass to the blue line.
Michal Rozsival skated sideways to find a shooting lane, and fired a wrister. It was an amazingly perfect, double deflection: first off of Bolland's stick, then off Shaw's leg into the net. Hockey players know that luck, good or bad, is part of the game. But Bolland and Shaw also knew where to situate themselves best, and at the moment that Rozsival's shot whizzed by, they were a pair of pinball bumpers for the puck.
Here is the aftermath of that terrific win for the Hawks and heartbreak loss for the Bruins.
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| His face, cut, Andrew Shaw was an exhausted but happy Hawk after the game (image credit) |
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| 13 down, 3 wins left to go, for the privilege of hoisting Lord Stanley above the ice (image credit) |
Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!
Ron Villejo, PhD
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