NHL Stanley Cup Finals - Chicago Blackhawks beat Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2

Game 1 - Chicago @ Tampa Bay 2-1 - Wed, Jun 3 - Hawks Lead 1-0
For all of the established offensive firepower available to the Blackhawks and Lightning, Game 1 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final was decided by two players who didn't have a regular role before March. Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored less than two minutes apart late in the third period to help the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory at Amalie Arena. Teravainen scored his third goal of the postseason to tie the game at 13:28 and then set up the game-winner. He was in and out of the lineup in the regular season and has been a healthy scratch a few times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the 20-year-old has steadily improved this spring and is evolving into the type of player his elite prospect status suggested. Duncan Keith set up Teravainen's goal with some terrific work protecting the puck in the offensive zone while Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos was marking him. He got the puck to Teravainen, whose one-timer beat Ben Bishop thanks in part to a screen from Marcus Kruger in front. On Teravainen's next shift, he knocked the puck away from J.T. Brown on the right side of the Tampa Bay zone and into the path of Vermette, whose shot deflected off Brown's stick and past Bishop at 15:26. It was Vermette's second game-winning goal in five games; he scored in the second overtime of Game 4 of the Western Conference Final. Vermette joined the Blackhawks before the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline from the Coyotes. The Lightning were 41-0-2 when leading after two periods in the regular season and postseason combined. They were 9-0 this postseason when scoring first. Tampa Bay held Chicago to 13 shots on goal through two periods, but the Blackhawks dominated the third and eventually broke through. Tampa Bay had five shots on goal in the third period, including two in the first 15:26 before Chicago took the lead. Conversely, the Lightning kept the high-powered Blackhawks in check for more than 53 minutes. Coach Jon Cooper called Teravainen's goal a "seeing-eye single," and Vermette's goal took a bad-luck deflection on Bishop. Teravainen's goal ended a shutout streak of 113:28 for Bishop, dating to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. Alex Killorn scored the lone goal in the first period. Stamkos sent the puck from near the benches to the far corner of the Chicago zone, using the back boards to pass it to Valtteri Filppula. The Lightning center fended off Keith to collect the puck and get it to Stralman at the right point. Stralman's wrist shot was going well wide of the net, but Killorn backhanded the puck out of the air, off the ice and past stunned Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. It was Killorn's eighth goal of the playoffs. He had 15 during the regular season. It was a surprisingly tight game with few offensive chances at either end of the ice. Stamkos had two late in the second period, one on a slap shot while alone on the right side of the ice and one seconds later after a faceoff on the edge of the crease. Ryan Callahan had a breakaway early in the third period, but Crawford, save for his delayed reaction on the Killorn goal, had an excellent game and finished with 22 saves.
Marian Hossa: "[Teravainen's] one of the most talented guys I see, watching him every day. But coming to this team, there are so many skilled players, they decided that instead of playing only a few minutes they put him on a minor team so he could play lots of minutes. Obviously, it's paying off. He's playing with such confidence. He's growing more confident every game. He doesn't seem to have a heartbeat. He's so calm. He's Finnish cold."
Patrick Sharp: "I don't know if 'come to expect it' is the right way to put it, but we certainly believe in ourselves in our locker room. We're never out of any game despite the score or how it looks out there."
Game 2 - Chicago @ Tampa Bay 3-4 - Sat, Jun 6 - Series Tied 1-1
The Lightning made three goalie changes and evened the 2015 Stanley Cup Final with a 4-3 win against the Blackhawks at Amalie Arena. Jason Garrison's power-play goal midway through the third period gave rookie goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy his first Stanley Cup Playoff victory. Lightning starting goaltender Ben Bishop left the game twice in the third period, once briefly and then for good with 7:41 left. Vasilevskiy replaced Bishop at the start of the power play before Garrison's goal, but Bishop returned during the celebration. Bishop wasn't able to stay in net, and Vasilevskiy returned for good at 12:19 of the period. He made five saves for his first win since March 24 and eighth in the NHL. Vasilevskiy, 20, is the first goalie to win his first playoff game in relief in the Stanley Cup Final since 1928, when New York Rangers coach Lester Patrick played during a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2 against the Montreal Maroons.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper did not provide an update on Bishop after the game.
The Blackhawks tied the game twice and took a brief lead in the second period, but the Lightning won Game 2 of a series for the fourth time this postseason.
Brent Seabrook tied the game 3-3 at 3:38 of the third period. Toews fed the puck to Seabrook at the top of the offensive zone and he was alone when his slap shot beat Bishop. The goalie immediately complained of interference by Marian Hossa, but the play is not subject to review. The second period looked a lot like how the series was forecast to be played. There were chances aplenty and four goals. Chicago scored twice in less than two minutes of their 2-1 Game 1 win, and scored twice in a little more than two minutes to take a 2-1 lead in Game 2. Andrew Shaw made it 1-1 at 3:04 of the second period. He and linemate Marcus Kruger were trying to screen Bishop on a shot from Andrew Desjardins. Shaw had inside position on Garrison and was able to shimmy to his right to score on the rebound after it trickled away from Bishop. Rookie Teuvo Teravainen scored his second goal of the series at 5:20 to put Chicago ahead 2-1. With the Blackhawks on a power play, Teravainen had the puck near the top of the right circle and sent it to Hossa near the goal line for a perfect give-and-go. It was Teravainen's fourth goal of the playoffs, third in five games. It didn't take long for the Lightning to answer. Tampa Bay's second line had a quiet Game 1 but "The Triplets" scored twice to give the Lightning take a 3-2 lead. Nikita Kucherov deflected a left point shot from Garrison past Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford at 6:52. It was the second straight game the Lightning have beaten Crawford with a well-placed redirection of a shot that was going wide. It was Kucherov's 10th goal of the postseason. Tyler Johnson hadn't scored in five games, but the playoff leader padded his advantage at 13:58 of the second with his 13th goal. Johnson collected the puck along the goal line to the left of Crawford and went straight to the net. Johnson's shot went off Crawford's side and squeezed inside the near post. Johnson, who has 22 points, set the Lightning record for most goals in one postseason. Cedric Paquette earned plaudits for his defensive work against Chicago's top line in Game 1, and he scored the first goal of Game 2. Kyle Cumiskey got spun around by the forechecking of Ryan Callahan and the puck went off Cumiskey's skate into the slot for a scoring chance from J.T. Brown. Crawford stopped that shot but couldn't save Paquette's from inside the right circle at 12:56 of the first period after he deked around sliding Brandon Saad with a shot fake. Brown helped out with a screen. The Lightning were unable to hold a one-goal lead in Game 1 of this series but were able to bounce back, in the game when the Blackhawks grabbed control and in the series, which moves to Chicago for Games 3 and 4.
Jonathan Toews: "We wanted to try and tie that game up at the end, but sometimes those ones slip away from you. We just kind of kept giving up goals every time we tied the game up or got ourselves back into it. We just ran out of time."
Corey Crawford: "I'm competitive. I want to stop everything. It's pretty frustrating, especially a couple I think I could have had. It's frustrating but you keep going. You can't hang your head right now. [They are] close hockey games but as a goalie when you give up two goals that maybe shouldn't go in at this point of the season it's pretty frustrating. I felt good. I was seeing the puck well. Some funky plays that went in. I've just got to be better."
Game 3 - Tampa Bay @ Chicago 3-2 - Mon, Jun 8 - Bolts Lead 2-1
For much of the past seven years, the Blackhawks have been the team with the star players who made the crucial play in a big game more than any other in the NHL. The Lightning might be inexperienced at this level, but they have young stars who want to prove they can do the same. Victor Hedman was that player in Game 3. The 24-year-old defenseman set up a pair of goals with highlight-reel passes in a 3-2 Lightning win against the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final at United Center. Cedric Paquette scored the game-winner on a pass from Hedman with 3:11 remaining in the third period. Tampa Bay won despite goalie Ben Bishop being questionable for the game because of an undisclosed issue. After two days of coach Jon Cooper and Bishop being coy about his status, Bishop made 18 first-period saves, 36 total, to put the Lightning two wins from the Stanley Cup. Bishop did not attempt to play the puck as much as his typically does and looked slow to get up at times. Cooper afterward again refused to reveal what is bothering Bishop. The Blackhawks were left smarting about missed chances in the first period and mistakes in the final two. They took the lead in the third period and lost it before some fans sat down from celebrating. The final minutes of a tie game have so often been Chicago's time to secure victory. On the winning goal, Hedman collected a pass from Ryan Callahan and skated into the Chicago zone toward the left corner before sending a perfect centering feed to Paquette, who redirected it from the slot for his second goal in two games and third of the playoffs. Hedman has 13 assists this postseason, second at his position behind Chicago's Duncan Keith (17). The Lightning controlled the first five minutes of the opening period, and Callahan gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 5:09. Hedman had the puck behind his net and sent a diagonal pass to Callahan at the far blue line. Callahan got behind Johnny Oduya, who had slipped a second earlier, and took a slap shot from the top of the right circle into the top right corner of the net past Corey Crawford. It was Callahan's second goal of the 2015 playoffs. After falling behind, the Blackhawks dominated the first period. Chicago had a 25-2 advantage in shot attempts after the goal before Tampa Bay had three in the final moments. The Blackhawks finished the period with a 30-11 advantage and a 19-7 lead in shots on goal. Brad Richards scored on a power play at 14:22 to make it 1-1. One of Chicago's best-executed power plays of the postseason yielded some great chances, and it was a simple shot from the top of the zone from Richards with a screen by Andrew Shaw that beat Bishop. It was the third goal of the postseason and first of this series for Richards, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Lightning in 2004. Brandon Saad gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead 4:14 into the third period. Marian Hossa slipped a pass from the left circle to Saad, who took a one-timer from the slot while going down to one knee. It was Saad's seventh goal of the postseason. The Lightning tied the game 2-2 while Saad's goal was being announced. Chicago won the faceoff, but Tampa Bay quickly gained possession in the neutral zone when Matt Carle poked the puck to Tyler Johnson. He got it to Nikita Kucherov, who swopped into the zone on the right wing and sent the puck toward the net. Ondrej Palat was there to punch it across the goal line at 4:27 when Crawford failed to cover it. It was Palat's eighth goal of this postseason, and the 31st by a member of "The Triplets" line. The Blackhawks fell behind the Boston Bruins 2-1 in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final before winning three straight for their second championship in four seasons. Chicago is 16-1 in games after a series is 2-2 in the past seven years. To get this one there, the Blackhawks are going to have to find an answer for Hedman, who has four points in the past two games.
Jonathan Toews: "It's frustrating. A lot of things we did today gave us the feeling we were going to come out on top with the effort we gave. It was just a couple of little bad habits that ended up hurting us."
Brad Richards: "It would have been nice to get more than one. You can always look back at stuff, but we did a lot of good things in the first. Sometimes you can't predict if they are going to go in or not, but we did what we wanted. The second period was probably where we lost a little bit of momentum in the game."
Game 4 - Tampa Bay @ Chicago 1-2 - Wed, Jun 10 - Series Tied 2-2
The Blackhawks faced a 20-year-old goalie making his first playoff start in the Stanley Cup Final and only beat him twice. Brandon Saad scored 6:22 into the third period to give Chicago a 2-1 win against the Lightning at United Center, evening the best-of-7 series 2-2. Tampa Bay rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 17 saves in place of injured Ben Bishop. But Vasilevskiy, in his 20th NHL game, could not keep Saad from breaking a 1-1 tie. Kimmo Timonen’s shot hit the crossbar and went out of play, setting up a faceoff to the left of Vasilevskiy. Patrick Kane tapped the puck out of a scrum near the faceoff dot to Saad near the bottom of the left circle, and Saad took it to the front of the net. Saad lost it momentarily but found it and backhanded it between Vasilevskiy's pads. Corey Crawford made 24 saves for the Blackhawks, including one on Lightning captain Steven Stamkos from in close in the final minute. Bishop was injured in Game 2 on Saturday and left the 4-3 win twice. He came back for Game 3 on Monday and made 36 saves in a 3-2 win, though he was not as nimble as he typically is, particularly when it came to playing the puck away from his crease. Bishop took the morning skate but did not participate in warmups. Vasilevskiy, who relieved Bishop in Game 2, made his first start since March 31. Vasilevskiy faced two shots in the first period, stopped 11 of 12 in the second, and four of five in the third. He was backed up by Kristers Gudlevskis. Jonathan Toews gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 6:40 of the second period. Patrick Sharp had a mini-breakaway and hit the right post, but Chicago kept the pressure on. Sharp deflected a shot on net and then pushed the rebound wide to the left of Vasilevskiy. Toews was near the far post and directed the puck for his 10th goal of the playoffs, first of this series. Sharp had been playing on the third line for much of this postseason but was moved up to the top line with Toews and Marian Hossa. Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 at 11:47. Valtteri Filppula carried the puck behind the Chicago net and slipped it past the two Blackhawks defenders who went with him back toward the left post, which he had skated by. Killorn was alone there as everyone's attention shifted toward the other side of the net. His shot was in the net before Crawford realized what was happening and turned his head back to Killorn, who scored his ninth goal of the postseason. Kane's assist was his first point of the series after he had 20 in the first three rounds. The goal by Saad was his eighth of this postseason. Two goals in less than two minutes of the third period helped Chicago win Game 1; Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored in a 2-1 victory. Jason Garrison's power-play goal midway through the third period was the difference in Game 2 for Tampa Bay. Victor Hedman had a pair of highlight-reel setups, including one for Cedric Paquette with 3:11 left in the third, in Game 3. The Blackhawks are 41-14 in playoff games after Game 3 of series with Joel Quenneville as coach. Their history with Quenneville when a series is tied after Game 4 is even better: Chicago has never lost when it is 2-2 since Toews, Kane and Quenneville arrived, and the Blackhawks are 16-1 in the games afterward in those series. Their only loss was Game 5 in the Western Conference Final last month against the Anaheim Ducks, and Chicago came back to win the series in Game 7.


Brandon Saad: "I was really pretty lucky. I just saw space going to the net, tried to drive and create some chaos. [Their] goalie made a good play with poking the puck. [It] bounced around my feet; finally found it to my stick. Just tried to get some wood on it and get it to the net and found a way through his legs. Really, it was trying to get to the net, create some chaos; it found a way in."
Kimmo Timonen: "Tampa was the better team today. There’s no question about it but, this time of the year, it doesn’t matter because we won. Our goalie was good. We get two days of rest and we are going to think how we can play better in next game."
Brad Richards: "[Saad] just keeps getting better. When I first saw him this year, I didn't know he was that good. But he's way better now even than he was in September. Just growing up and getting confident, so powerful. I've never seen such a young kid so even keel. I don't think anything bothers him. It looks like he's just out for a Sunday stroll sometimes. He's three strides and he's beating people down the ice. These guys [Lightning] are way better than anybody imagined at checking and trying to frustrate you, We're learning that mentality that it might be 2-1 games the rest of the way."
Andrei Vasilevskiy: "I was just really excited; really happy. It's my dream to play in the Stanley Cup Final. I think I look not bad in my first game in two months. I can play better, for sure, but for the first time, not bad. First period, not too much [action]. It's not bad; because for me it's like a warmup. But other side, it's tough too, because just two shots. Second, third period was more fun than the first."
Game 5 - Chicago @ Tampa Bay 2-1 - Sat, Jun 13 - Hawks Lead 3-2
Antoine Vermette wasn't the highest-profile addition before the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline, but he has proven to be one of the most valuable. Vermette scored two minutes in the third period to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 win against the Lightning in Game 5 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop returned after missing Game 4 with an undisclosed injury and made 27 saves. Chicago has not won the Stanley Cup in a home game since 1938, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Game 7 would be here Wednesday, if necessary. The teams have played 15 periods in this series and neither has held a two-goal lead. Each game has been tied in the third period. The Lightning have lost 2-1 three times and face losing a series in Game 6 for the second time this postseason. They will play their 26th playoff game, which ties an NHL record set by the Los Angeles Kings last year. The Blackhawks are 17-1 in games played in a series after it is tied 2-2 since Quenneville arrived during the 2008-09 season. They are 42-14 in any series after Game 3. The Blackhawks paid a steep price for Vermette, a pending unrestricted free agent. Chicago traded a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and defense prospect Klas Dahlbeck to the Coyotes for Vermette. Vermette's goal was his fourth of the playoffs, second in this series. He did not score in 19 games with Chicago during the regular season but has three game-winning goals this postseason, including Game 1 of this series and in the second overtime of Game 4 in the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks. Kris Versteeg broke in behind the Lightning defense, but Jason Garrison was able to lift Versteeg's stick on his first attempt. Versteeg's second effort from near the goal line got the puck to the net, and Vermette scored on the rebound. The slim margins in this series were evident in the opening minutes of this game. Corey Crawford gave away the puck to the left of his net, but Nikita Kucherov not only did not score, he fell into the left post and did not play the rest of the game. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper did not provide an update on Kucherov's status afterward. A similar blunder at the other end of the ice resulted in the first goal. Bishop came out of his net to play the puck near the top of the right circle, but he collided with Victor Hedman. They wiped out, and Patrick Sharp was left alone to skate the puck to the net and slide it into the empty goal at 6:11. It was Sharp's fifth goal of the playoffs, his first since Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Minnesota Wild. Bishop left Game 2 twice and did not play in Game 4. After Game 4, Cooper said Bishop would play again in the series but he was not sure when. With an extra off day between Games 4 and 5, Bishop took three days off then joined his teammates for the morning skate Saturday. Rookie backup Andrei Vasilevskiy made five saves in the final 7:41 of Game 2 for his first NHL playoff victory (4-3), then made 17 saves in a 2-1, Game 4 loss in his first Stanley Cup Playoff start. Bishop made 36 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 3, but his mobility and willingness to play the puck appeared to be restricted. He did not appear to have any problems in this game and said he expects to play Game 6. Valtteri Filppula tied it 1-1 at 10:53 of the second period. Garrison found Filppula at the bottom of the right circle with a diagonal pass from near the left point for Filppula's fourth goal of the postseason. Tampa Bay outshot Chicago 27-15 in the final two periods.
Antoine Vermette: "Right off the get-go, [this] was a great opportunity for me. I want to make the best out of it. This is a good group, obviously a special team. I'm glad I'm here to try to help the team. This is all fun right now, but there's a lot of work still ahead."
Joel Quenneville: "I'm sure it will be crazy over the next two days in town. The buzz will be off the charts. [Looking] forward to it. The bigger the game, the bigger the setting, they're excited about the challenge."
Niklas Hjalmarsson: "I read it somewhere that their coach in [Phoenix] said in big games, [Vermette] comes up big, and it's definitely what he's been doing for us here. He's a guy that's great in faceoffs and extremely nice guy off the ice too. He's a great addition to the locker room and … always plays as hard as he can out there. A lot of veteran presence."
Game 6 - Tampa Bay @ Chicago 0-2 - Mon, Jun 15 - Hawks Win 4-2
When the Blackhawks celebrated on the ice at United Center, their place in hockey history did not matter much to them. The grind of another deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs did not matter. What may become of some members of the team did not matter. The Blackhawks keep winning championships, and that is all that matters to them. Chicago won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six seasons with a 2-0 victory against the Lightning in Game 6 of the Final. Kane and Duncan Keith scored, and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for Chicago, who also won the NHL championship in 2010 and 2013. It is the sixth Stanley Cup championship in Blackhawks history; they won three times in their first 82 seasons. Jonathan Toews became the first player to lift the Stanley Cup at United Center, and he gave it to 40-year-old Kimmo Timonen, who missed most of this season because of a blood clot in his lung and joined the Blackhawks in late February in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blackhawks won the Cup at home for the first time since 1938, when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Keith was a unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, becoming the ninth defenseman to win it. He averaged more than 31 minutes of ice time in 23 playoff games, and his 21 points are tied for 10th-most by a defenseman in a postseason. Keith scored with 2:47 remaining in the second period to give the Blackhawks the lead. Kane collected a pass along the right wall and crossed into the Lightning zone before stopping and waiting for help. He slipped a pass through two defenders to Keith in the middle of the ice.

Ben Bishop stopped Keith's first shot, but he went around Lightning center Cedric Paquette and put the rebound off Bishop into the net for his third goal of the playoffs. Kane scored his first goal of the Final to make it 2-0 with 5:14 remaining in the third period. Brandon Saad carried the puck into the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Richards. Richards, who won the Conn Smythe in 2004 with the Lightning, fed Kane, who was playoff MVP in 2013, with a pass for a one-timer and the first two-goal lead in almost 355 minutes of play in the series. Kane fractured his clavicle Feb. 24, and the initial diagnosis was 8-12 weeks of recovery, which would have left him out for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Instead, he returned after seven weeks and tied Tyler Johnson for the postseason scoring lead with 23 points. Crawford, replaced in net for three games during the Western Conference First Round, allowed two goals in the final three games to the highest-scoring team in the NHL during the regular season.

Bishop made 30 saves for the Lightning. He missed the end of Game 2 and all of Game 4, and revealed after Game 6 he was playing with a torn right groin muscle. Johnson, who led the playoffs with 13 goals, said after the game he played much of the Cup Final with a broken wrist, which explained why he took very few faceoffs late in the series. Steven Stamkos did not score in the series despite several great chances. He had a sure goal go off the shaft of a defenseman's stick, put a shot off the crossbar in Game 6, and had a breakaway denied by Crawford. It is the first Stanley Cup for Timonen, NHL Trade Deadline additions Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins, and rookies Teuvo Teravainen and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Timonen hinted on multiple occasions during this run he would retire after this season. It is the third championship for eight Blackhawks players, and for Quenneville. Toews, Kane, Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Bryan Bickell were drafted by the Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp joined in a trade in 2003, and Marian Hossa signed as a free agent in 2009. Each has been an integral member of the closest thing the NHL has seen to a modern dynasty.

Patrick Kane: "We're going to enjoy this so much. We know it's going to be a short summer, but that's what we want. It's unbelievable. I don't think there's going to be much sleeping tonight. I felt so good and I knew I had to step up. So many guys on our team had already done that during the series, so I knew I had to do something. It was great to come in and produce. My linemates made great plays, [Keith] made a great play on his goal. We got great goaltending. Just a complete team effort."
Joel Quenneville: "It's the greatest feeling in the world. Once you do it once, you can't wait to do it again. It was special tonight doing it in front of our own fans. The building was electric."
Jonathan Toews: "It's about time [Keith being named MVP]. We all know he's going to go down as one of the great players to play the game. In our room, we knew that before the playoffs, but he keeps proving it time and time again. So I couldn't be happier for a guy like that. It's really incredible."
Brad Richards: "Right from the first [playoff] game against Nashville, I saw a different level of hockey [from Duncan] that I'm not sure I've ever seen on my team. Just how he kept doing it and never showed any signs of fatigue. He's probably the best player I've ever seen live. It was unbelievable what he did out there."

Kimmo Timonen: "I was dreaming about this moment for a long time, and it's right here. This game has given me so much, and I'm relieved, happy, ready to leave this game, and I'm leaving this game as a Stanley Cup champion."
Niklas Hjalmarsson: "You're almost thinking about, when's the next game? You've [always] got to be prepared for next game, but the season is over, and you're a champion."
Heavy rain greated Hawks fans as they arrive at United Center for Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final.