The Chicago Blackhawks won their two previous Stanley Cups in game 6. They are one win away from doing it again, taking game 5 with a 2-1 victory thanks to Antoine Vermette scoring off the rebound in the third period, putting the Tampa Bay Lightning on the brink of elimination.
Scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs, Vermette scoring off the rebound after Kris Versteeg made (almost) the most of another Lightning turnover in the wrong place at the right time wasn’t the first time the veteran came through for Chicago in this postseason. This time it might have been more important than before.
Patrick Sharp opened the scoring for the Blackhawks early in the game, making the most of Ben Bishop making a terrible decision to venture away from his goal and collide with a teammate, leaving Sharp to score an easy goal.
The Lightning made things even in the second period through Valtteri Filppula, but the credit on that goal has to go to Jason Garrison with the best assist we’ve seen in this series and possibly the entire postseason.
In 2010 against the Flyers and 2013 against the Bruins, the Blackhawks entered game 5 tied at 2-2. On both occasions, they finished the series in six games.