The Chicago Blackhawks won their fifth Stanley Cup on Monday after defeating the Boston Bruins 3-2. Here are reasons why the Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup champions.
Corey Crawford
Back in 2010, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup with decent goaltending from Antti Niemi. This season, Corey Crawford outplayed a number of elite goaltenders on the way to winning his first championship. Crawford took down Detroit's Jimmy Howard in the second round before defeating the 2012 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick in five games. In the finals, Crawford marginally outplayed Tuuka Rask. The goalie finished the postseason with a 1.84 goals against average and a .932 save percentage.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane Wake Up
After putting up 29 points in 2009-10's postseason, Toews struggled with only nine points in the first three rounds of the postseason. The Chicago captain's struggles continued in the first three games of the finals, but his reunion with Kane in the final three games reignited Toews; the center scored five points and two goals in the final matches of the series. Meanwhile Kane finished the postseason with 19 points and the Conn Smythe award. He also scored five points in the six-game series, but scored two vital goals in Game 5 to help Chicago take back the lead in the series.
Comebacks
The Blackhawks fell behind in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. The team came back, won the game and never looked back for the remainder of the series. In the second round, Chicago fell behind three games to one against the Detroit Red Wings; the team came back and won three straight. After dominating the Los Angeles Kings, the Blackhawks faced a 3-1 deficit at home in the first game of the finals. Chicago bounced back and won the game in triple overtime. After two crushing defeats, the Blackhawks won three straight to capture the Cup.
Read why the Bruins Lost HERE.
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