Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1
CHICAGO -- A best-of-seven series has been reduced to a best-of-three, as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals at the United Center on Wednesday.
The series is now tied at 2 games each. Game 5 is Saturday at Tampa Bay.
Chicago left winger Brandon Saad's goal at 6:22 of the third period broke a 1-1 tie. He grabbed the puck along the boards, cut cross-ice, fired a 15-foot wrist shot that was deflected by Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, picked up his own rebound and backhanded it through the legs of Vasilevskiy.
When all was said and done, Tampa Bay outshot Chicago 25-19, but Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford topped his Lightning counterpart, stopping 24 shots, while Vasilevskiy stopped 17 Blackhawks shots.
Crawford stopped a flurry of last-ditch shots by the Lighting in the final 90 seconds, including two point-blank attempts. He also had luck on his side as one shot sailed over his shoulder and bounced off the crossbar.
After a scoreless first period, Chicago and Tampa Bay traded goals in the second period.
Chicago broke the scoreless tie when team captain and center Jonathan Toews tipped in a shot by left winger Patrick Sharp at 6:40 of the second period. Toews' first goal of the series and 10th of the playoffs came shortly after Sharp hit the post behind Vasilevskiy on a partial breakaway.
But Tampa Bay came right back, tying the game at 11:47 on a wrist shot by winger Alex Killorn. After a scramble in the Chicago end, the puck was passed to the front by center Valtteri Filppula to Killorn, who roofed his ninth of the playoffs past Crawford.
NOTES: Tampa Bay G Ben Bishop was scratched for Wednesday's game, apparently due to the injuries that have nagged him in the series. Twenty-year-old rookie G Andrei Vasilevskiy was in the starting lineup for the Lightning. The backup was G Kristers Gudlevskis. ... Forty-year-old Chicago D Kimmo Timonen also played. Timonen agreed to be traded to the Blackhawks from Philadelphia in February to have one potential last shot at a championship. ... Chicago D Johnny Oduya, who is battling an upper-body injury, was in the lineup. Also, LW Kris Versteeg replaced LW Bryan Bickell, who was scratched because of an injury. ... Attendance was 22,354, Chicago's 328th consecutive sellout at the United Center. ... Actor Vince Vaughn and Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte were in attendance.