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For the third time in the last six years, the Chicago Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions. The Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by the score of 2-0 in Game 6 on Monday night to win the series four games to two.
The Blackhawks played an absolutely textbook closeout game and head coach Joel Quenneville couldn’t have scripted the sixty minutes much better. The team didn’t take a single penalty until there was just 3:39 remaining in the game and limited the odd-man rushes throughout the three periods.
Duncan Keith, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs, broke the scoreless tie with just under three minutes remaining the second period. The lockdown defenseman took a pass from Patrick Kane, fired a shot on Ben Bishop and potted his rebound into the top of the net to score one of the most spectacular goals of the playoffs.
Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks were rock solid defensively the rest of the way to complete the shutout. Chicago added an insurance goal with just over five minutes remaining in what became the final period of the series.
After Braydon Coburn broke his stick on the other end of the ice, Brandon Saad raced up the ice along with Brad Richards and Patrick Kane for a three-on-two break. Saad deftly dropped the puck off to Richards who then slid across a perfect pass to Kane for the easy one-time finish.
In this day and age with the salary cap, winning three championships in six years is truly a remarkable accomplishment. The surrounding pieces have changed each and every year, but Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook have been the four core pieces that this dynasty has been built around.
Seth Lassen is a writer for RantSports. ‘Like’ him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @Seth_Lassen.
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