The NHL Playoffs are evened up at 1-1 in the Stanley Cup series after the Boston Bruins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime on Saturday night and with home ice advantage possibly slipping away, both teams will be looking to win Game 3 on Monday to take the 2-1 advantage for the championship.
The Bruins will be riding high after winning 2-1 on Saturday in overtime after falling in triple overtime the previous game and if Boston can win they will be able to hold onto the momentum as the series plays two games in Massachusetts. The Bruins have done a good job of coming back from deficits during the playoffs and they did it again on Saturday night when Patrick Sharp scored the first goal of the game. The team has only lost twice in seven chances when that happens and now they will try and start aggressively on Monday.
Game 2 was on the NBC Sports Network and Game 3 will be on the channel as well as NBC tries to get some eyeballs to their dedicated sports channel. The Bruins answered the Blackhawks in the second period with a goal from Chris Kelly and then both teams went quiet as Corey Crawford and Tuukka Rask held things in check for the rest of regulation. The Bruins scored on a goal from Daniel Paille to get the win and they have been playing well so far without their leader David Krejci going off, like he has been the rest of the playoffs.
Krejci is leading the team in scoring, goals and assists, while the Blackhawks need more production from their top stars in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Toews will be riding high entering the game on Monday, as he is coming off of a big award win from last week after taking home the Selke trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL, beating out fellow Stanley Cup finals player Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins. Toews had a great plus minus on the season and he was tied for the league lead with takeaways and also was second in faceoffs percentage, giving him some great stats leading up to the voting.
The Blackhawks were the best team in the NHL this past season and they won the President's Trophy after having the top record and that was one thing that propelled them through the postseason as they had home ice for all the series leading up to the Cup and they obviously have that too. But after losing Game 2 at home, the Blackhawks will need to take at least one on the road to get it back. Chicago has been battling all playoffs and the Bruins have proven to be tough up the middle and one thing the Blackhawks will need to do is play aggressive and if they get a lead, they need to try and extend it, as the Bruins are not a team that gives up easy.
From looking at Boston during the Maple Leafs series, this is a team that will not be afraid of any deficit and they came back again in Game 2 and will do it in Game 3 if needed. Game 3 is on Monday night on the NBC Sports Network at 8 PM from TD Garden in Boston.
