Crawford had to make a couple of big saves, and get a little bit of help, to keep the Lightning off the board. First came a little bit of luck. Tampa managed just four shots on goal in the first, but came oh so close to taking the lead early, when at the 12:11 mark of the period, Steven Stamkos rang one off the crossbar. He had Crawford beat dead top rights over the catching glove, but couldn't beat the post. Chicago controlled most of the play in the opening period and got a little help form the post to keep the game scoreless. To the 2nd period we went and Chicago got bailed out just 56 seconds into the period. Steven Stamkos got a clean breakaway against Crawford. The puck bounced on him just a bit and he had to settle it down. Stamkos then made his move and was stopped not once but twice by the left leg of Cory Crawford.
Shot totals were a little closer in the 2nd, as it was a 10-7 edge in favor of the Blackhawks. Chicago finally broke through. At the 2:47 mark of the period, Ducan Keith managed to do this:
Patrick Kane got the play going and then found Keith in the middle of the ice. Tampa Bay goaltender 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. This move and goal was a little like the goal Scott Niedermayer scored in game two against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 finals. Chicago would hold that one goal lead going into the 3rd period.
Once that 3rd period got going, so to did the Lightning. Tampa fired off 14 shots in the final period, but Cory Crawford was there to shut the door tight. No save he made in that final period was bigger than the point blank chance that Ondrej Palat had. Tampa was on a powerplay and there was a mad scramble in front of the net. Palat took a couple of whacks at the puck but was stopped, the last one coming on a phenomenal glove save by Crawford.
Chicago had their fair of chances in the 3rd as well, firing off nine shots on net. The Hawks finally added the huge insurance goal when this happened:
Brandon Saad started the rush, took the puck to the line and left a drop pass for Richards. Richards fed Kane with a pass for a one-timer and the first two-goal lead in almost 355 minutes of play in the series. For Kane, it was his 11th goal of the playoffs and 1st goal in this finals series, which is a bit of a surprise for a guy who has a high level for scoring goals as he does.
Chicago held on to that 2-0 lead to clinch the title. Game Six was the only one in the series that had a two goal lead in it at any point. Every win the Hawks had in the series, they managed to score just two goals in each of the games.
A couple of things to note about this series from the Lightning perspective. First of all, Ben Bishop was quite impressive in this series. Why? Because it was revealed that he had played game three five and six with a torn groin. He helped keep the Bolts in this series with an injury and he still played pretty well. I kind of feel that with the way he played, Bishop deserved a bit better of a fate than he got. One of the reasons I fell the Bolts came up short in this series was the triplets line. They were held in check the entire series. Three goals from that entire line over the course of six games? That can't happen. Palat, Kucherov and Johnson had been playing outstanding all playoffs long and then decide to not show up at all in the finals. Bad time of year for that line to go cold.
Once the Hawks finished celebrating, and the teams shook hands at center ice, it was time to hand out some hardware. First up was the Conn Smythe trophy, going to the playoff MVP. This years winner was Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith. Keith was a unanimous choice for the award, in doing so, he becoming the ninth defenseman to win it. Keith was a machine during the playoffs, averaging more than 31 minutes of ice time in 23 playoff games. Also, the 21 points Keith registered are tied for 10th-most by a defenseman in a postseason. It was almost a no-brainer that he was going to win it.
After that the Hawks got the cup. After Jonathan Toews took the trophy, the first person he handed it off to was 40-year-old defenseman 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. Chicago has a modern day dynasty. This marks the 3rd title in six seasons and 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.
Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, your 2015 Stanley Cup Champions!
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