Stanley Cup Final, Game 3: Lightning 3, Blackhawks 2 – Recap

The Hawks were back on home ice Monday as the Stanley Cup Final shifted to Chicago. As they did in the first two games, the Lightning scored first in game 3. It was Ryan Callahan 5:09 in with a shot that Corey Crawford absolutely needed to stop. We would see 4-on-4 action 8:12 into the game after Braydon Coburn was sent off for tripping and Brandon Saad was sent off for cross-checking. The Hawks would get a few great looks, but neither team would score during the 4-on-4 play. The Hawks would go to the power play 12:42 into the period after Coburn made his second trip to the box, this time for hooking. The Hawks put together a great power play and scored 14:22 into the game on a shot by Brad Richards. The Hawks would get a couple more nice looks and the Lightning would get a couple late in the period, but neither team would score and after one, the teams were tied at 1.

The Lightning controlled the action to start the second, but were unable to get anything past Crawford. The Hawks would go to the power play 8:53 into the period after Nikita Kucherov was sent off for tripping. The Hawks would never really get set up and would come away empty. The Hawks would go to the penalty kill 15:18 into the period after Bryan Bickell was sent off for roughing. The Hawks would be down two men after Brandon Saad was sent off for goalie interference 15:52 into the period. The Hawks penalty killers would come up big for the team and kill off both penalties. Neither team would score during the remainder of the period, and after two, the teams were still tied at 1.

The action was back-and-forth early in the third until the Hawks put together a couple nice possessions with one resulting in a goal from Brandon Saad to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Saad’s goal came 4:14 into the period. Thirteen seconds later, Ondrej Palat scored to tie the game at 2. After the tying goal, we saw back-and-forth action until Cedric Paquette scored with 3:11 to play to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead. With 1:42 to play, the Hawks pulled Crawford for the extra attacker. The Hawks would be unable to score and the Hawks would fall to the Lightning 3-2.

My picks for 3 stars:

★★★ Ben Bishop, G, TB (36 SV, 2 GA)

★★ Brandon Saad, LW, CHI (1 G)

★ Ryan Callahan, RW, TB (1 G, 1 A)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com