Third period (:00)- Lots of chances for Chicago in the last 105 seconds, but they can't get one to go as the Lightning take game three 3-2 and take a 2-1 lead in the series!
Third period (1:45)- Chicago has pulled Crawford.
Third period (3:11)- What a play by Victor Hedman! He takes it up the ice like a point guard and passes to Cedric Paquette in the slot and he scores to make it 3-2!
Third period (6:00)- Still 2-2, some great chances that neither team can put in.
Third period (12:20)- Bad change by Chicago leads to a breakaway by Cedric Paquette but Crawford keeps it tied.
Third period (13:24)- Tampa nearly took back the lead on a turnover by Chicago in their own zone. The post saved Chicago again.
Third period (15:33)- Well that was quick! Ondrej Palat beats Corey Crawford in a scrum in front of the net. We have two goals in 13 seconds.
Third period (15:46)- Score! Brandon Saad goes high glove again on Bishop and it goes through to give Chicago a 2-1 lead! Perfect setup from Marian Hossa.
Third period (18:45)- A great save by Ben Bishop! Hossa passed it in and Saad had a golden opportunity but could not convert.
Third period (20:00)- We're off in the third!
Second period (:00)- Second period is over. Such a furious period with no scoring. Who will step up in the third?
Second period (2:07)- The Blackhawks kill both penalties.
Second period (4:10)- Brandon Saad gets called for a penalty after hitting Bishop in the head. It was a pretty blatant hit with his glove to Bishop's helmet. It'll be 5 on 3.
Second period (4:42)- Tampa Bay will have their first power play of the game as Bickell gets two minutes for roughing.
Second period (5:43)- This game has been all about the goalies. Crawford has been great and Bishop is playing through the pain as if nothing were wrong with him.
Second period (7:49)- It's the fifth icing of the game by Chicago. Johnny Oduya is leaving the ice--huge blow for Chicago.
Second period (8:12)- A bad power play for Chicago yielded no shots, and immediately following its conclusion Kucherov got a breakaway chance but Crawford made a great save to keep it a tie game. Bishop does not look 100% out there, will see if he stays in the game.
Second period (11:07)- Chicago will have their second power play of the game. Nikita Kucherov called for tripping.
Second period (14:15)- Antoine Vermette making his presence felt with a steal and breakaway, but he is stimied by Bishop! He was hacked from behind but it wasn't called. Tempo is picking up.
Second period (16:48)- Tampa has controlled the second period so far. 6-0 in favor of the Lightning.
Second period (19:30)- Tampa through one on net, it bounced up and then hit the post on the way down and bounced out.
Second period (20:00)- We're off in the second!
First period (:00)- We have come to the end of a chippy first period, with it tied at 1-1.
First period (4:19)- Brandon Saad had a great opportunity to give Chicago the lead, but Bishop made a great pad save to keep this a tie game. What a start to this game--Bishop looks every bit as good as he did in game one save for the one mistake that gave Chicago their goal.
First period (5:38)- We have a tie game! Brad Richards launches one from the blue line and it bounces off Bishop's glove and into the net.
First period (7:18)- Another penalty on Braydon Coburn, this one for high sticking, Blackhawks power play.
First period (10:51)- Another open net that Chicago but Teuvo Teravainen hit the post to keep Chicago off the board. 14 to 5 in favor of Chicago in shots and 8 to 5 in scoring chances.
First period (11:49)- After the Lightning controlled the opening few minutes, the Blackhawks have evened up the shots. Marian Hossa had an open net as Bishop had left the net, and Braydon Coburn tripped him up to prevent the goal, Brandon Saad also called for a crosscheck.
First period (14:51)- We have a goal! Once again Tampa Bay scores first as Ryan Callahan dings one off the crossbar but gets the favorable bounce as it does into the goal and Tampa scores first for the third time in this series.
First period (16:24)- Great shot to score for Tampa as Anton Stralman had a shot from the slot that Crawford saved.
First period (17:00)- Once again the Lightning are starting fast. They've dominated the puck so far.
First period (20:00)- We're off! Nikita Nesterov is in, Jonathan Drouin is out. Bryan Bickell is in, Kris Versteeg is out. Trevor Van Riemsdyk is in, David Rundblad is out. Not surprised at the Blackhawks changes, but the Lightning's change is surprising to me.
With the home team getting the last change, it does create an opportunity for Joel Quenneville to get some different matchups for his captain Jonathan Toews. Most of the time in the first two games Victor Hedman, the top shutdown guy for Tampa, was on the ice whenever Toews was. I also think it's likely we'll see the bigger Marian Hossa with Toews for the rest of this series because after Patrick Kane started on Toews' line in game two Hossa was moved up there because he's bigger than Kane is. Speaking of Kane, he has yet to score a point in this series. He only had two points through five games of the west finals before exploding for five points in the final two games. At some point a breakout performance from Kane is inevitable, and if it happens tonight Chicago will go up 2-1. If not, Tampa has a decent shot at taking home ice advantage back in this one.
Conversely for the Lightning, they need to keep the pressure on. With Jonathan Drouin on their fourth line in game two, they had a line that could keep up the pressure on the forecheck and cause more problems for Chicago and their lack of depth on the blue line. Corey Crawford stole game one for Chicago but he did not look as good in game two, so the more chances the Lightning can generate the better off they will be. Pulling the seventh defenseman was another wise move by Cooper. After carrying seven defensemen for most of the eastern finals and in game one, he finally dressed 12 forwards and it seemed to pay off.
For the Blackhawks, they know they will face an aggressive defense that will try to close off passing lanes and disrupt their shots. They need to slow the game down and be patient with passing. Keep the puck in the Tampa zone and cycle it. Get Tampa to take chances they don't need to and eventually they will make a mistake. Tampa wants to play fast, so if you slow the game down and take them out of their comfort zone, it could work very effectively.
What is more intriguing is that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will not disclose who his starting goalie will be in game three. In the third period, Ben Bishop came off the ice with what was thought to be an equipment issue, then came off again a couple minutes later with what looked like an injury, unknown at the time to what part of the body and how significant. My gut feeling is that Bishop will go in this game, considering how tough hockey players are. Had it been a major injury that he suffered, my guess is he would have not been able to come back into game two. Should he not be able to go, Andrei Vasilevskiy will start in net for the Lightning. In game two he played 9:13 and stopped all five shots he faced. Prior to game two he had logged 44:59 of ice time in relief of Bishop in two games. In the second round against Montreal he played 34:52 in game four, allowing three goals on 26 shots. He also played 10:07 in game six of the conference finals against the New York Rangers, allowing one goal on seven shots. In the regular season he played in 16 games, starting 13. He went 7-5 with one overtime loss and had a goals against average of 2.36 and a save percentage of .918. So far in the postseason his GAA is much higher at 4.43 and save percentage much lower at .895.
This game featured two major injury updates for the Blackhawks—both Bryan Bickell and Trevor Van Riemsdyk could play in tonight's game. Bickell sat out the first two games of this series with an upper body injury while Van Riemsdyk has been out since November 16 with injuries to his right wrist and left knee. He played in 18 games at the start of the year, but should he be inserted into the lineup to replace Kyle Cumiskey or David Rundblad he would have to shake of rust extremely quickly considering the magnitude of this game and the caliber of offense they are up against. I would stick with the two guys that have been playing, and if they just can't get the job done then consider putting Van Riemsdyk in, depending on how he looks. Bickell returning would be a significant boost for the Blackhawks because he brings another physical presence to the top six, and considering the size advantage that the Lightning have and have used very effectively so far in this series, his return will not be a second too late.
After two games we are tied at one in this Stanley Cup Finals. Tampa Bay came back to win game two 4-3 to salvage one of the first two games on their home ice. As the series shifts to Chicago, it is worth noting that the Lightning are the best team in the NHL this postseason at home, with a record of 7-1, the only loss coming in game three of the west finals against the Ducks, and the Lightning are 7-3 on the road this postseason.