Chicago Blackhawks win Stanley Cup
Listen to this articleAfter suffering two disappointing losses in a row to the Chicago Blackhawks in this Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves back at the United Center in Chicago, down 3-2 in the series. This was Game Six and the Blackhawks could wrap up their third Stanley Cup in six years with a win tonight.
In Game Five their defense was able to hold off Tampa Bay’s incredible third period assault on Hawks goalie Corey Crawford and their net, holding onto the win. Tonight, with a hometown crowd behind them, we saw a very motivated Blackhawks team, led by captain Jonathan Toews.
One more win brings the Stanley Cup to Chicago for another year.
On the other side of the puck though is the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have two impressive wins in this series and they haven’t given up in any game so far. Ben Bishop will be th starting goalie for Tampa Bay, but if he is showing signs of his injury hampering his playing, they also have Andrie Vasilevskiy. Bishop was injured enough for him to sit out game four, but with the Cup on the line, he and his coach, Jon Cooper, decided he needs to play.
If not, Vasilevskiy proved he’s capable of handling what the Blackhawks bring to his net.
It wasn’t the Tampa Bay goalies that were the problem; it was scoring and that’s what the Lightning needed to do in Game Six, if they were going to close out the series with a Game Seven on their home ice.
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Game Six of the NHL Stanley Cup Final went off like the previous five games in this series. Great defense and two goalies with great ability to protect their nets. The game went over 37 minutes before a goal was scored, and it was Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith who scored on Ben Bishop, from 12 feet out. Patrick Kane and Brad Richards got the assist.
There were a lot of shots made on the goals in this first 36 minutes, but the goalies, Ben Bishop for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Corey Crawford for the Chicago Blackhawks, did what they have done throughout the playoffs — they kept their teams in the game.
It was 14 minutes into the third period when Patrick Kane scored from 31 feet, with assists from Brad Richards and Brandon Saad.
It was the second goal for the Blackhawks, but as it turned out it was an extra goal.
Crawford made 25 saves for Chicago, shutting out Tampa Bay completely. It’s a testament to Corey Crawford and the Chicago defense that the Tampa Bay Lightning scored only one goal in two games. The game ended with a score of 2-0 and the Chicago Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup in six years, the first team to do that in the history of the cup.
The big stat from tonight’s game: puck control. The Blackhawks won 42 face-offs and the Lightning won only 20.
The winner of the Con Smythe Trophy, the Stanley Cup Final MVP, was Duncan Keith who led his team’s defense against a powerful Tampa Bay offense.
The Blackhawks will take the summer off and parade the trophy around Chicago and their hometowns.
The 2015-16 season will begin October 7.
(All photos by Claudia Gestro)
Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and PasTV Deportes in Venezuela.She encourages you to follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Her content appears here under a shared content agreement with her Spanish television clients.