CHICAGO (AP) – The Stanley Cup Final is back in Chicago. And it brought along all sorts of questions.
It is unclear who will start in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 on Monday night. The Blackhawks could make a couple of changes to their lines and defensive pairings after a 4-3 loss on Saturday night left the best-of-seven series tied at a game apiece.
“The games are on the line from start to finish,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday. “I think there’s a lot of respect from our team what Tampa Bay is able to do, the quality of their team. They got some depth. We got to know going forward we got to be better than we were in the first two games.”
So far, it has been a lot of fun. Chicago rallied for a 2-1 victory in the opener on Wednesday night, with Teuvo Teravainen collecting a goal and an assist during an impressive third period. But the teams were just warming up for Game 2, when they combined for four goals in the second and Tampa Bay used a power-play score from Jason Garrison in the third to earn a crucial victory.
“There was a lot of up-and-down action,” Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn said, describing the frenetic play Saturday night. “Everything happened quick out there as opposed to some other series and some other games. I thought that might have been one of the fastest ones we played so far in the playoffs. Both teams back and forth. Guys making plays quickly with the puck, just the pace up and down the ice.”