The Chicago Blackhawks won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals 4-3 in triple overtime.
Chicago dominated the opening 10 minutes of the game as their space seemed to be more than Boston could handle. The team not only outshot Boston, but also outhit them by a wide margin. However, the Bruins struck first when David Krejci obtained the puck from behind the Chicago net and dished it off to Nathan Horton on the left circle. The winger then threw it to the slot where Milan Lucic rifled it past goalie Corey Crawford at the 13:11 mark of the first. Boston wound up outshooting Chicago 11-8 in the opening frame.
The Bruins doubled their lead early in the second when Lucic outmuscled Patrick Kane for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone. The winger cut into the middle and dished the puck to Krejci. As he entered the Chicago zone, Krejci fed the puck back to Lucic who one-timed it past Crawford at the 51 second mark of the second period. Chicago got a goal back a little over two minutes later when Brandon Saad scored his first goal of the postseason; Marion Hossa provided the lone assist on the play. Chicago outshot Boston 16-6 in the second period.
The Bruins took a two goal lead just six minutes into the third on a powerplay goal by Patrice Bergeron; Tyler Seguin and Lucic added the assists. However, the Blackhawks found a way to make a huge comeback thereafter. Less than two minutes later, David Bolland scored his first playoff goal to make the score 3-2. Johnny Oduya tied the score when he fired a shot from the point that deflected off the skate of Andrew Ference at the 12:14 mark. Chicago wound up outshooting Boston 39-23 in the opening 60 minutes.
The two sides traded chances throughout the first overtime but were unable to break through. Boston outshot Chicago 12-8 in the fourth period of play. The second overtime saw more chances from both sides. The Bruins came close to winning the game when Zdeno Chara fired a one-timer from the point on a powerplay. The puck glanced off the post and fired back into the slot where Lucic missed the rebound into an empty net.
Chicago eventually won the game with 7:52 remaining in the triple overtime when Andrew Shaw redirected a shot from the point.
Game two will take place on Saturday June 15 at 8 PM EST.
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