Breaking down Game 4: Blackhawks Even Series with Six Goal Outburst
There was an offensive barrage at the TD Garden last night as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in overtime. The series is knotted at two games apiece with two of the next three games in Chicago. Wednesday night’s nail-biter was the most exciting game of the Stanley Cup Finals and here are some of the reasons:
Goaltending
Both goaltenders had an off night. Boston’s Tuukka Rask gave up more goals in Game 4 than he gave up over the first three games combined. Despite allowing six goals, he still leads all NHL playoff goalies in Goals Against Average (GAA) with 1.83 and a save percentage of .941. Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford didn’t fare any better. On three of the five goals allowed, the Bruins beat him on his glove side. The Bruins are targeting the glove side of Crawford and it seems to keep working for them.
Determination
Chicago got the win but they also blew the lead three different times. They led 1-0, 4-2, and 5-4. The Bs came back to tie each time and had the momentum heading into overtime before giving up the game-winner to Brent Seabrook.
Scoring
Patrice Bergeron had two goals and joined teammate David Krejci on the Stanley Cup Playoffs scoring leaderboard. The two each have nine goals and trails Blackhawks alternate captain Patrick Sharp who has 10. Jaromir Jagr assisted on both of Bergeron’s goals. Those two points gave him 199 playoff points which is fifth in NHL history. Sharp’s power play goal was the first one the Bruins had given up in 30 opportunities, dating back to game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
After Wednesday night’s thriller, the next three games of this series look to be equally if not more exciting.
