Brandon Saad creating ‘chaos’ led to Blackhawks’ Game 4 winner
CHICAGO — When the puck slipped to Brandon Saad after a chaotic face-off in the Tampa zone early in the third period, the 22-year old Chicago Blackhawks forward wanted to create a little of his own.
Seeing Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman stuck in the face-off circle, Saad realized the space he had and drove the puck to the net. Thanks to a stick check by Brad Richards on Stralman — “I had to pick the stick so Saader could get to the net,” Richards would say afterward — Saad had room to create a scoring chance.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy managed to poke-check the puck but it deflected into Saad skates. With Vasilevskiy moving laterally to recover his position, his five-hole opened, which is where Saad’s backhand ended up going through on its way to the back of the net.
“I was really pretty lucky,” Saad said afterward.
“We were trying to run a faceoff play,” said Patrick Kane. “There was a little battle in the circle. [Brad Richards] hit it once, I hit it once and we know they like to play that man on man system. If you can beat your man to the net, you could have a chance to get there and have a good opportunity.”
The goal stood as the winner and the Blackhawks took Game 4 with a 2-1 win, evening the Stanley Cup Final.
Saad’s goal was the result of Chicago’s pressuring of Tampa, which forced three straight icings. On the offensive zone face-off after the third icing, Kimmo Timonen’s shot from the point went off the crossbar, setting up a fourth consecutive face-off in the Lightning zone, which led to the go-ahead tally.
Stepping up in the playoffs is nothing new for Saad. He posted six goals and 16 points last postseason and recorded six points in 23 playoff games when Chicago won the Cup in 2013, his rookie season.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has seen his stock rise with all eyes of the hockey world on these two teams. Saad is doing the same for the Blackhawks.
A restricted free agent this summer, Saad will receive a hefty raise from his current $832,500 salary, which he’s earned after averaging 17 goals and 43 points a season in his first three years in the NHL.
“He just keeps getting better; even when I first saw him I didn’t know he was that good,” Richards said. “He’s way better now than he was in September. Just growing up, getting confident, so powerful. I’ve never seen such a young kid so even-keel. I don’t think anything bothers him.”
Richards’ sentiment was reiterated by numerous Blackhawks players after Game 4. Surround a highly-skilled young player with other highly-skilled players and it’s the perfect combination for a player you can rely on to step up in big occasions.
“I’ve always said, to me, the best characteristic to his game is not necessarily his flat-out skill, his skating, all the tangle parts of his game that you can see first-hand,” said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
“He wants to be one of the best players. He wants to contribute in games like tonight. We saw that again. Obviously, our team has had a lot of success this postseason. He’s a big reason why.”
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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