Lightning 4, Blackhawks 3
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning bounced back to tie the Stanley Cup final at one game apiece, taking Game 2 on their home ice Saturday with a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning scored the game-winner on a power play with 11:11 left in the game, as defenseman Jason Garrison fired a long shot that caromed through a Chicago defenseman into the net for the lead.
The score came as Lightning goalie Ben Bishop had to leave the game for 90 seconds, replaced briefly by rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
With 7:41 left, Bishop left the game again, with Vasilevskiy, just 20 years old, stepping in the rest of the way to earn the win in relief.
The Lightning killed off a power play in the final seven minutes after a delay call for sending the puck over the glass, then the final two minutes after Chicago pulled goalie Corey Crawford.
Chicago tied the game early in the third period, scoring on a controversial goal by defenseman Brent Seabrook with 16:22 left in the game. Seabrook fired a shot past Bishop, who argued that Blackhawks right winger Marian Hossa had interfered with him, running into his pad right before the goal was scored. The play was reviewed and the goal upheld, with center Jonathan Toews getting the assist.
Tampa Bay had held Chicago's top two playoff scorers in check to that point, with Toews and right winger Patrick Kane held to a combined one shot in the first two periods, after going pointless in Game 1 on a combined four shots.
The winning goal was just Garrison's second of the playoffs, with defenseman Victor Hedman getting his 11th assist and right winger Ryan Callahan picking up his fifth on the play.
The series now goes to Chicago for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday, assured of returning to Tampa for Game 5 in one week.
Momentum shifted sharply twice in the second period, with the Lightning emerging with a 3-2 lead.
Tampa Bay went into the second period up 1-0, found themselves down 2-1 after two Chicago goals in a span of 2:16, then answered with a pair of goals for the 3-2 lead and momentum in their home arena.
Lightning center Tyler Johnson fired a shot behind Crawford for the go-ahead goal with 6:02 left in the second, his NHL-best 13th goal of the playoffs, breaking the team record set by Brad Richards in 2004.
As they did in Game 1 on Wednesday, Chicago fell behind early, but tied the game up on a goal by right-winger Andrew Shaw with 16:56 left in the second. A wide shot from left-winger Andrew Desjardins bounced off Bishop, and Shaw poked in the loose puck to tie the game.
Chicago quickly picked up a power play with 15:34 left after Tampa Bay center Alex Killorn was called for hooking, and the Blackhawks got a power-play goal from rookie center Teuvo Teravainen, who had a goal and assist in Wednesday's win. Teravainen scored off a pass from Hossa, who got his 10th assist of the playoffs. Sharp also got his ninth assist on the play.
That goal had barely been announced when the Lightning fired back to tie the game, as right winger Nikita Kucherov got his 10th goal 92 seconds later, redirecting a long shot by Garrison, who got his fourth assist.
The Lightning struck first in the game, as center Cedric Paquette, scoring just his second goal of the playoffs, fired a well screened shot past Crawford with 7:04 left in the opening period.
NOTES: The Lightning made a key lineup switch, dressing rookie LW Jonathan Drouin for only the fourth time in the postseason and the first time since Game 4 against Montreal. Drouin, 20, was the third overall pick in 2013 draft and had 28 assists during the regular season, but hadn't pointed since April 4. Another rookie, C Vladislav Namestnikov, was a healthy scratch, along with D Mark Barberio and Nikita Nesterov. ... For Chicago, LW Brian Bickell missed a second straight game because of an upper-body injury, with LW Kris Versteeg dressing in his place. D David Rundblad dressed for only the fifth time in the postseason, with veteran D Kimmo Timonen out for the second straight game.