The Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins are very tired after playing two straight overtime games in the Stanley Cup and after the Bruins took Game 2 in the first extra period, the series is now tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 in New England.
The Bruins took control of the game after a goal from Daniel Paille and with the score they were able to take home ice advantage away from the Blackhawks as Game 3 heads to Boston. The Blackhawks won the first game in triple overtime after a deflection goal from Andrew Shaw, but on Saturday night there was no such magic and now the team must try to win one on the road to get the advantage back.
The Bruins have looked strong throughout the playoffs and while Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was excellent again on Saturday, his 26 saves were just not enough to get the win. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask has been putting on an MVP performance in the playoffs and he continued that again while making 33 saves in the contest for the 1-1 tie. Paille scored in overtime for the 2-1 win after a goal from Chris Kelly, while the Blackhawks got a goal from Patrick Sharp to start off the game at 1-0. The Bruins tied it in the second and then took over in the extra period to get the victory for the series tie.
The Blackhawks have been able to get ahead early in the series, but they didn't score a goal after the first period and the Boston defense was stellar as they had some chances on Rask. Sharp will need to continue playing well for the team, as he leads Chicago in goals and points, while Duncan Keith is tops in assists. The Bruins have gotten tons of scoring from David Krejci in the playoffs with 23 points, nine goals and 14 assists, but he hasn't had a big game yet in the finals.
The game on Monday night will be on NBC Sports Network at 8 PM and the Blackhawks will be coming out aggressive after losing in overtime. The team was much better early and Boston was able to recover for the win and now it will be a battle of wills as both teams are tired after playing basically a full game of extra overtime hockey over the first two games. The teams had a short rest and now will pick up on Monday in Boston.