2015 Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Recap
By: Colby Kephart
Antoine Vermette scored yet another clutch game winning goal in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs en route to the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Heading into Game 5 the big story was Ben Bishop, having played through an injury in Game 3 and how he would continue handle it on Saturday night.
Aside from his early mess up that led to Patrick Sharp’s goal 6:11 into the 1st period, he seemed to have a solid game for being injured. However, Corey Crawford was the better goalie only giving up one goal on 29 shots.
The Blackhawks got off to an early start in the 1st period. It wasn’t surprising that they wanted to test the injured Ben Bishop. Bishop was there to answer early chances from Duncan Keith and Brandon Saad. It was one-way traffic in the first few minutes and it looked like Tampa forgot to show up at their own arena.
Nikita Kucherov had a chance as Corey Crawford made a mistake playing the puck and sent it right to Kucherov’s stick. Crawford dove back in front and stopped the surefire goal and run of play, a little over five minutes into the period. As Crawford froze the puck, Kucherov collided with the far post and left the game with an apparent shoulder injury.
Ben Bishop wasn’t so lucky on his mistake a minute later. As he came out to play the puck, he collided with his defenseman, Victor Hedman, while Patrick Sharp collected the puck and put into the wide open net, for his 5th of the post season. Teuvo Teravainen and Jonathan Toews were given the assists on Sharp’s goal.
By the halfway point of the period Chicago was outshooting the Lightning 11-3. Tampa wasn’t getting many shots, but they were throwing their weight around- outhitting Chicago 19-7. Faceoffs were split pretty equally with Chicago having a slight advantage, 13-10. The period ended with questions left unanswered by Tampa, especially since they only had 5 shots on goal compared to Chicago’s 15 shots on net.
The second period began with a penalty in the opening 47 seconds of the period, as Tampa’s Cedric Paquette was called for hooking. Tampa had a strong penalty kill and kept Chicago to very few chances. Except for Kris Versteeg’s great chance from the slot, but it was denied by Bishop.
The pace of the 2nd period was much more balanced than the 1st period. About halfway into the 2nd, shots on goal read 20-10 in favor of Chicago. Tampa was outhitting Chicago, 28-7, and leading in faceoffs, 14-13. 10:53 into the 2nd period Tampa evened the scoreboard with Valtteri Filppula netting his 4th of the playoffs, with help from Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman.
A few minutes later Brandon Saad took Chicago’s first penalty of the game as he got called for slashing on JT Brown.
The 2nd period concluded with both teams swapping chances, although neither could manage to find the back of the net. Tampa closed the gap in shots on goal trialing, 22-17. Tampa has also more than doubled Chicago in hits, 32-13. Chicago has continued to lead in faceoff wins, 19-16.
Third period action began with both teams exchanging chances as play went end to end. Brenden Morrow had a chance on a pass that somehow made it to him and went one on one with Crawford, who made a great save on the wrist shot.
Not even a full minute later, Chicago forward, Kris Versteeg carried the puck in on Bishop and threw a quick one off the Lightning goaltender. Antoine Vermette found the rebound and scored yet another big goal for the Blackhawks this postseason. It was his 4th of the playoffs with help from Versteeg.
The teams continued to exchange chances for most of the period, as Bishop and Crawford made big saves. Halfway through the final period Tampa was outshooting Chicago 27-24, while also outhitting the Blackhawks, 34-15. Chicago still had the faceoff win advantage, 26-21.
At 11:24 into the 3rd period Teravainen had a chance with a shot from the slot, yet Bishop was there to thwart a rebound opportunity and made a huge save to keep it a one-goal game.
Tampa began to bring their defensemen men into the attack, pinching further into the offensive zone and generating more odd men rushes. In the end, it didn’t make a difference as the Lightning couldn’t find a way to beat Crawford.
With 8 seconds left in the game, poor judgment resulted in a too many men on the ice penalty for Tampa, sealing the fate of Game 5. With the win, Chicago now leads the series 3-2 with a chance to clinch the game on home ice for the first time since 1938 (their previous two Cups were won on the road in Philadelphia in 2010 and in Boston in 2013).
Game 6 is in Chicago at the United Center on Monday night at 8 PM EST. It will be televised on NBC in the United States and on CBC in Canada. Lord Stanley’s Cup will be in the building, on the chance that the Blackhawks win and need to skate with it. The Blackhawks will be looking for their third Cup in 6 years, while the Lightning will be looking to force a Game 7 back in Tampa on Wednesday.