Stanley Cup Game 3 Recap (Series: 2-1 Boston)

Boston and Tuukka Rask produced a dominant home display to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, Rask completing his third shutout of the postseason in a 2-0 win. Chicago’s offensive ego has taken further bruising with just the one goal in the last two contests to their name. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in particular are far too quiet, overshadowed by the Boston counterparts. Marian Hossa was a shock late withdrawal from the Blackhawks’ lineup and his absence was noticeable, he’s now listed as day-to-day but according to Joel Quenneville is “likely” to dress for Game 4, they need him badly.

Scoreless through the first period, Claude Julien’s new third line again did the business of igniting their side and Daniel Paille has ended up getting consecutive game winning tallies. On an all-round great shift Chris Kelly forced two turnovers that led to chances, on the first Tyler Seguin produced a big stop from Corey Crawford but the second allowed Paille to beat the netminder’s glove in the same spot as Saturday.

A couple of minors to Dave Bolland and Niklas Hjalmarsson sapped Chicago’s momentum and had them pinned in their own zone rather than mounting a comeback. The Bruins only got 10 seconds of 5-on-3 time but it was all they needed to find a second goal. Almost square to the net, Jaromir Jagr squeezed a beautiful pass through the paint to set up an easy finish for Patrice Bergeron, who continues to big goals with regularity. Bergeron also won 24 of his 28 faceoffs, unbelievable number considering a considerable number were agains Toews – the second best draw man in the league.

We also saw the first real animosity between the two sets of players as the final buzzer. A fight of the pests also broke out with Brad Marchand and Andrew Shaw going at it, they are the first two guys to receive fighting majors this series. It would seem paramount the Blackhawks carry that fire through to Wednesday’s next contest, they’ve been outworked up to now and need to get desperate. Getting their feet moving is a simple way to look at it but could be the solution, they have the advantage in skating ability if they match the Bruins’ work ethic. Like I said after Game 2 slipping to a 3-1 deficit would likely spell the end of their hopes of lifting the Cup.