Stanley Cup Game 6 Recap (Series: 4-2 Chicago WIN)
Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, 2013 Stanley Cup Champions!
A 4-2 series win was completed last night at TD Garden and Jonathan Toews raised the historic trophy above his head for the second time in his career. Yet so easily we might have been playing again on Wednesday as the Boston held a 2-1 lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. First Bryan Bickell and then Dave Bolland in the space of twenty seconds silenced a home crowd that had been providing the Bruins with deafening support all night long.
Losing it so late will be a bitter pill to swallow for Boston, especially as they dominated large parts of the contest. At first intermission a whopping 32 attempts ad resulted in 12 shots on net but only a lone Chris Kelly tally. One particular opportunity for David Krejci looked an absolutely gimme after a beautiful move and pass by Brad Marchand however an excellent defensive play by Duncan Keith prevented a tap-in. The second was even more cagey and punctuated only by a Hawks equaliser as a penalty to their own Andrew Shaw expired. Straight off a neutral zone draw Michal Roszival jabbed the puck off Zdeno Chara creating a 2 on 1 with Jonathan Toews in possession, he chose to shoot and beat Tuukka Rask through the 5-hole.
Milan Lucic looked to have done enough for the Bruins 12 minutes into the third but as the clock ticked down and Corey Crawford made it to the bench the Blackhawks tied it up. Toews was integral once more feeding a deft pass through the crease to Bickell for his ninth of the playoffs, he’s a guy who really stepped it up on this run. Already stunned, few would have predicted the killer blow coming so soon after. Michael Frolik deflected Johnny Oduya’s shot onto the post and Bolland was there to whack away at the rebound and spark wild celebrations on the Chicago bench, fortunately for them they were able to see it out.
Another piece of business before the Hawks could celebrate with the Cup was awarding the Conn Smythe Trophy to the MVP of the postseason. Although there was no outstanding candidate like Jonathan Quick last year it was still a little surprising to see Patrick Kane scoop the gong. If we’re being insistent on a player from the Champions I’d have gone for Crawford or Patrick Sharp. It’s an award for the entirety of the playoffs and Kane had just two goals in the first 15 games of their campaign. Still No. 88 had some superb moments including two overtime winners and an electrifying effort to lead his team to victory in the vital Game 5.
So I applaud Chicago again, a rare occasion when a President’s Trophy winning club has converted on their regular season successes and few would argue they haven’t been the most deserving side over the course of the entire shortened schedule. Right from picking apart the reigning LA Kings on January 19th and the remarkable 24 game point streak that followed, this group of players has displayed a complete brand of hockey. Plenty of changes were made after the 2010 triumph and there may have to be something similar this offseason to get in line with the shrunken cap but if the core remains intact they will have a chance at the repeat.
