Well, we thought these teams were pretty evenly matched. But, we didn't this it would take a triple overtime thriller to decide Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. But, I guess things don't always go as planned right? The building was rocking, the fans were ready (the players probably were too) and the puck was finally dropped to begin the series.
Both teams came out with a lot of energy, as expected when your playing for a championship. Lots of checking, fast paced play. The Bruins would take a lead when Krejci took a hit to make a play behind the Chicago net, he then passed it to Horton, who did a great one touch pass to Lucic who one times a wrist shot to beat Cory Crawford and take a 1-0 lead. This play was really executed well, they moved the puck so fast that the goaltender couldn't react quickly enough. Then, 51 seconds into the Second Period, the Bruins would strike again, and it was again the first line. This time Krejci passed it backwards to Lucic who again once timed it, this time a slap shot, and put the Bruins up 2-0. But, before things got out of hand, the Hawks got right back into the game. They would make it 2-1 when Brandon Saad would take a loose puck and just fire a quick wrist shot that beat Rask glove side. In the 3rd now, Seguin would receive a pass from Lucic, who then passed to to Patrice Bergeron who hammered a shot top shelf to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead on the power play, yes a power play goal. It looked like the Bruins might be able to pull this one off, but Chicago didn't get here by accident. On what was setup like a 2 on 1 even though it wasn't, Andrew Shaw would pass it across the ice to Bolland and just got a beautiful shot off, no chance for Rask, and now it was 3-2. The Hawks would complete their mini-comeback, when Johnny Oduya shot a puck from the blue line. This was frustrating if your a Bruins fan. Ok, the shot was clearly going wide, but Andrew Ference was standing at the side of the net, and it was just very bad luck for him as it went off his skate and went into the net to tie the game. That has to hurt for Ference. And to overtime we go. The Bruins seemed to be better in OT than they were in the third period. However, nobody was finding the back of the net. Both teams had good chances, but both goalies were also up to the task. 2nd overtime. Again, plenty of chances that could have ended the game for either team. The Bruins came so close though. With less than a minute in the second overtime, Chicago was called for too many men on the ice, and Zdeno Chara fired a shot from the point that was deflected toward net by Jagr, and it just rang off the iron. A game decided by inches. 3rd overtime. There had to be a winner and a loser in the game, and unfortunately the Bruins didn't end on the side they wanted. Bollan shot a puck towards net that was deflected twice out in front, and the final deflection went off of Andrew Shaw's knee and went in to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals for the Blackhawks at about 1:15 AM Eastern Time.
This was a tough one to swallow for the Bruins, it was a night of back puck luck for them. The tying goal went off of Ference's skate, they hit a post in double OT. Of course, there were chances we didn't capitalize on, one that I didn't mention in the third overtime. Kaspris Daugavins was in right in front and had a golden opportunity to shoot the puck, and after seeing replays I think he could have scored. But, he elected to go for the extra fancy move and try to go forehand-backhand but lost control. It was that kind of night. So the good news, there are two days off in between games 1 and 2 for a bit of extra rest. Trust me, both teams need that. They basically played 2 games Also, Nathan Horton came out of the game in OT with an undisclosed upper body injury. Earlier today, Claude Julien said he was day-to-day. So he might not be in for Game 2 Saturday, but it sounds like he will be back before the series is over.
~Anthony
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