Blackhawks Win Game 4; Stanley Cup Finals Tied 2-2

In a game featuring outstanding goaltending and defense, the Chicago Blackhawks edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 10th at the United Center. All four games so far have been very close with the winner winning by just one goal each time. Brandon Saad continued his fine post season by scoring the winning goal at 6:22 of the third period.

With Tampa Bay starting goalie Ben Bishop standing down with an undisclosed injury, Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start. The nature of Bishop’s injury is apparently on a need to know basis, as the Lightning will only say he is day to day but is expected to play again in the series. There was no drop off with Vasilevskiy in the net; he saved 17 of 19 shots (by our count the goalposts had three saves as well). Credit must also be given to a tenacious Tampa Bay defense for holding the Hawks to 19 shots, including just two in the first period.

Chicago’s defense and goalie Corey Crawford shut down the Lightning offense, including withstanding an exciting furious final few minutes effort by Tampa Bay at the end that kept Hawks fans on the edge of their seats. Crawford can have his lapses from time to time but came up big when it counted the most in this game.

https://youtu.be/uaY_N8JA7fw

The series returns to Tampa and resumes with Game 5 on Saturday night June 13th.