The NHL Stanley Cup Finals are heading into Game 4 for the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning and the matchup is from the United Center as the playoffs series is 2-1 in favor of TB and now the Hawks will try and bounce back after losing two in a row and the game is on the NBC Sports Network and is streaming online from the NBCSN Live Extra website.
The series has been a back and forth affair, although the Lightning have now won two in a row after losing the first game at home. The team bounced back and took Game 2 at home despite their cheap home fans rules and then they came into the third game and won in Chicago. Tampa Bay has been playing very well overall and while Ben Bishop has been up and down in net with injuries, the team has been able to overcome it.
The Lightning have not shown any fear of the way more experienced Blackhawks roster and now they get the chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. The game on Monday saw Brad Richards and Brandon Saad score for the Blackhawks, while the Lightning got goals from Cedric Paquette, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan. Victor Hedman has been playing out of his mind in the playoffs and he now has 12 assists after helping the team score the first goal to take the lead.
Richards scored on a power play in the first to get the game tied after assists from Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossa and the game stayed tied through the second and into the third. Chicago got the next goal from Saad, but the team allowed Tampa to come back and they tied the game with a goal from Palat before Paquette scored the winner.
In the last round the Lightning played amazing on the road in the Garden against the Rangers and they have shown that it's no issue for them to score away from home. The team now can take a commanding lead with a win here on Thursday and that would put the Cup in the building when they play Game 5 of the series over the weekend.
The next matchup will be Saturday and based on how tough it is for teams to play in Tampa, the Hawks are looking to get a win here. Players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews need to step up for the Blackhawks and the key could be who ends up in net for the Lighting with bishop's status in question again.
Tyler Johnson is leading the Lightning with 23 points in the playoffs and 13 goals, while Hedman is tops with 13 assists. The Blackhawks have Kane leading with 20 points and 10 goals, but he has to find a way to the next moving forward, while Duncan Keith has 18 assists. The Blackhawks are going for their third Stanley Cup win in the past five years.
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