Tampa Bay took control of the game early, dominating the opening minutes of play. Tampa took five of the first six shots of the hockey game. On the 6th shot Tampa took in the game, Alex Killorn did this:
Yeah Killorn knocked the puck out of mid-air on a fantastic goal. He kind of baseball bat swung it past Cory Crawford at the 4:31 mark. For Killorn it was his 8th of the playoffs. In this year's playoffs, Tampa Bay is a perfect 9-0 when they net the first goal. From there, the Lightning just kept the attack coming. Tampa fired 18 total shots through the first two periods of the hockey game. Cory Crawford was very good in the early going. He had to be good and made a couple of outstanding saves. One of his more impressive stops came with about 1:45 left in the middle period, when he stoned Steven Stamkos from point blank range. A very though thing to do considering just how good a shooter Stamkos really is. In fact Tampa Bay held Chicago to 13 shots on goal through two periods, which is no small feet with the kind of fire power that the Blackhawks have at their disposal.
Chicago had a couple of golden chances in the middle frame. The best one coming at about the 8:46 mark of the 2nd period, with the Hawks on a power play. Marion Hossa, a very dangerous shooter, was left wide open in the slot and had Ben Bishop beat high over the glove. Only problem is Hossa got too much air under the shot and sailed it high over the crossbar. Heading into the 3rd frame, with the Lighting still holding a 1-0 lead, it has ment one thing, the Bolts come away with a win. The Lightning were 41-0-2 when leading after two periods in the regular season and postseason combined.
Crawford kept the Lightning at bay in the 3rd, stonning Ryan Callahan on a breakaway with a little over eight minutes left to go in regulation. That seemed to be a turning point in the hockey game. Why? Because two minutes later, at the 13:28 mark, Teuvo Teravainen scored his 3rd of the playoffs to tie the game at one. It came off a screen that was set in front of Ben Bishop, who never saw that shot come through. Then, two minutes later, at the 15:26 mark, Teravainen was at it again. He picked the pocket of JT Brown and sent it to the high slot for Antoine Vermette, who beat Bishop high to the glove side for his 3rd of the playoffs. The score would hold up, giving the Hawks a 2-1 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
This handed Tampa the first loss after scoring the opening goal and their first loss all year after taking a lead in the 3rd period. Cory Crawford kept the Hawks ion this hockey game, while it took a while for the Blackhawks to get their offense going. Tampa did a good job of keeping up the pressure heading into the 3rd period, but that's where the game changed. Callahan got robbed on the breakaway, and Tampa had only five shots on net in the final frame. They gave too much room for the Hawks to come back into the game, which they found out the hard way isn't going to work. For Tampa Bay to come back in the series, keep the Hawks out of their crease, which is how Chicago tied the game. Bishop was screened on the point shot that beat Bishop to tie the game. Tampa has looked shaky at times at home during this years playoffs and it happened again at the end of regulation in the opener. Tampa needs to fix this problem going through the rest of the series.
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