OTD: Blackhawks Rally Late to Stun Lightning in Cup Opener
When Chicago's stars couldn't crack the Tampa Bay Lightning's defense for the first 53 minutes of the Stanley Cup finals opener, 20-year-old Teuvo Teravainen stepped up in dramatic fashion to put the Blackhawks on top.
Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored 1:58 apart late in the third period, and the Blackhawks rallied to stun the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on this date seven years ago.
Teravainen's goal with 6:32 left not only got the Blackhawks on the board, it also ended Tampa goaltender Ben Bishop's shutout streak at 113:28. Less than two minutes later, Turbo set up Vermette's game-winning goal. Vermette scored four goals for the Hawks during their 2015 championship run, with three of them being game-winners.
Turbo became the youngest player to have a multipoint game in the Stanley Cup finals since 19-year-old Jaromir Jagr did it for Pittsburgh in 1991.
Alex Killorn opened the scoring for Tampa just 4:31 in with a backhand redirect past Corey Crawford, who made 22 saves.
Tampa Bay was the NHL's best home team during the regular season and Chicago was the best on the road. The Lightning led the league in goals and the Blackhawks shared the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed.
It was also Tampa's first loss of the postseason where they scored first.
| POLL | ||
Should the Hawks have kept Teuvo? | ||
| Yes | 67 | 65.7 % |
| No | 17 | 16.7 % |
| Needed to move for cap reasons | 18 | 17.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
