The wait is now over as the first game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals has now concluded. Despite the hot start that the Tampa Bay Lightning took on home ice at Amalie Arena, the Chicago Blackhawks kept their composure to win the game late in the third period.
It was a thought the Lightning were infused with energy from the power image of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sonya Bryson, in full Air Force Blues, singing the last words of the national anthem, “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” as they blasted out from the opening face-off. It was undeniable that the Bolts were electric, and they dominated the first period by holding the Chicago Blackhawks to only seven shots. In fact, at one point, Doc Emrick reported that Jonathan Toews & Co. went about six minutes without registering a single shot. Moreover, the Lightning struck first for what would be the only goal in the first period. Alex Killorn with assists from Anton Stralman and Valterri Filppula registered his eighth goal of the playoffs. Killorn, as you may remember, is the Bolt who scored the game-winner in Game 7 against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals to send the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Lightning continued to dominate into the second period, outshooting the Blackhawks eight to six, but neither were able to put one past either goaltender. This was exactly the type of start that Tampa Bay wanted to have because they’re a team that almost never loses a game when scoring first and struggles to win come-back games. The only thing that the Bolts should have done was net a goal or two more before heading into the third, but that’s really easy for me to say as Captain Obvious at my keyboard. But honestly, Tampa Bay headed into this game as undefeated in the playoffs when leading after 40 minutes at 8-0, so scoring first and dominating was looking unbelievably good for Bolts fans.
With the opening of the third period, the momentum started to shift for Chicago. As fate would have it, Tampa Bay went an extended period of time without a single shot as a reversal of the first period. The Blackhawks took control of the game, and there were two seemingly unlikely heroes. Teuvo Teravainen scored the game-tying goal with a one-timer from Duncan Keith while Marcus Kruger provided the screen. With the Lightning already showing signs of defeat, Antoine Vermette scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes later with an assist from none other than Teravainen. Fun fact: Vermette and Teravainen previously teamed up for a game-winning goal in the thrilling Game 4 double overtime goal of the Western Conference Finals against the Anaheim Ducks. Despite the fact that Teravainen was brought up from the AHL in March and Vermette was acquired during the trade deadline to replace the injured Patrick Kane, both have provided key goals both during the regular season and the playoffs despite not being top names on the roster.
What hockey fans witnessed in the third period of this game is that the Chicago Blackhawks are a team with poise that is unrelenting. Perhaps part of their ability to control the third period, also partly stems from the Lightning’s inexperience in the playoffs. The Bolts started to cruise in the third, which is insane because since when do they win one-goal games ever? Not to mention, did they realize that the Blackhawks won not just one Stanley Cup in the last six years, but two and that the last one was only two years ago? Chicago was like a sleeper agent and struck with cold calculation. In fact, Marian Hossa described the heroic Teravainen, “He’s growing more confident every game. He doesn’t seem to have a heartbeat. He’s so calm. He’s Finnish cold.” Although I’m not familiar with “Finnish cold,” I’m going to assume that it’s far icier than the “Rocky Mountain cold” Coors Light I had. Not to mention, I didn’t notice Teravainen turn blue to indicate he had reached peak “Finnish cold,” but there may be other indicators.
Clearly with this loss and because this question has just not been asked enough, when is Coop going to suit up Jonathan Drouin? All kidding aside though, for all that Chicago did right, there is one thing that Tampa Bay did extremely well tonight. If you look at the boxscore, it’s not so much what is written as it is what is not there. There is absolutely no mention of Patrick Kane, that glorious warrior robot, or Jonathan Toews. No goals, no assists. Big fat zeros. Cedric Paquette was tasked with shutting down Toews and that he did. Coach Jon Cooper was extremely impressed. He noted, “If I pull up the scoresheet, you don’t see Kane or Toews or any of those guys on it… I thought they did a heck of a job. You can’t ask for much more than that.” I’d expect to see Paquette tasked with the same job in Game 2. While it would be impossible to keep them off the scoresheets for the entire series, the less visible they are, the greater the chance for the Lightning to win.
Stanley Cup Fan Reaction
For the games I will be covering, I’d like to include fan reactions. Please add your comments below. You can also tweet me (@SportingAJenDa) or the website (@TheAOSNOfficial). Make sure to please include #SCFR in your tweet!
From @ZeokeSteve: “Tampa sat back on one goal without a single shot for half of the 3rd period and 2 in total. They deserved to lose.”
Steve is right. Tampa shouldn’t be complacent against the Blackhawks nor in the Stanley Cup Finals. By the way, it makes me want to bang my head on the wall to think that the highest-scoring team in the league thinks it can win games with only one goal now.
From @TCByLine: “Karma 1 – dress code 0 #LoseBolts #Lose #SweaterCops
This gets in because it makes me laugh!