Blackhawks win third Stanley Cup in six years
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Stanley Cup Final, Game 6
Blackhawks 2, Lightning 0 | Blackhawks win series 4-2
Game 6 in a nutshell: There simply is not a better organization in the NHL right now than the Chicago Blackhawks.
Thanks to their 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night, the Blackhawks successfully climbed to the top of the NHL mountain for the third time in six years and cemented themselves as the gold standard in the league when it comes to building a team in the salary cap era.
The Blackhawks received goals from Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane in the win and a stellar defensive effort to shut down the highest scoring team in the NHL, limiting them to just 22 shots with their season on the line. The few shots that did get through were handled by Corey Crawford who recorded his second shutout of the postseason.
In what was the closest Stanley Cup Final series in recent memory — and perhaps even all time — Kane’s goal late in the third period, which gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead, resulted in the first two-goal lead that either team held in the entire series, and helped hand the Lightning what would turn out to be their first — and only — three-game losing streak of the season.
Ben Bishop was stellar in the Tampa Bay net, continuing to play through an obvious injury, and did his part to keep his team in the game. Unfortunately for him and the Lightning, the guy at the other end of the ice was just a little bit better.
For the Blackhawks, it is their first Stanley Cup clinching win on home ice since the 1938 season.
Turning point: Steven Stamkos will be remembered for not scoring a single goal in his first Stanley Cup Final appearance, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of chances. And Game 6 had to be the most frustrating game of them all. After hitting the crossbar on a shot in the first period, Stamkos had his best opportunity of the series in the second period when he had a clear breakaway against Corey Crawford and was stopped by a terrific pad save by the Blackhawks goaltender. The game remained scoreless after that until Duncan Keith scored later in the period.
Three things we learned
1. The Chicago Blackhawks are closers. Their record with the current core in games where they have an opportunity to clinch speaks for itself, and after Monday now sits at 14-4. But they also just finished a season in which they did not lose a single game in which they had the lead after two periods. They were 25-0 during the regular season when leading after two periods, and finished the playoffs a perfect 8-0, including their Game 6 win on Monday night.
2. Corey Crawford should probably get a lot more credit than he does. He might not be the best goalie in the NHL, and he might not always get style points in the crease, but the guy just simply gets the job done for the Chicago Blackhawks. And he is far from a passenger on a great team at this point. By getting the Game 6 win on Monday night Crawford tied Hockey Hall of Famer Tony Esposito for the most playoff wins in franchise history with 45. He is also now a two-time Stanley Cup champion as a starter.
3. Even when their top players aren’t scoring like they usually do, the Blackhawks are still tough to beat. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane finished the Stanley Cup Final with two goals between them, and the Blackhawks were still able to win it all in six games. It’s a testament to the team general manager Stan Bowman and his staff have been able to built in a salary cap league to have so many contributors throughout their lineup.
Video of the game: Perhaps the Chicago Blackhawks’ most important player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Duncan Keith scores to give his team a 1-0 lead in the second period.
It appears as though Duncan Keith is not of the human species. #StanleyCup https://t.co/S2OmoWjize
— NHL (@NHL) June 16, 2015
Duncan Keith and the Chicag Blackhawks are champions again. (USATSI)
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