Bishop stands tall, Paquette scores late as Lightning take series lead in Game 3
Ben Bishop played through whatever is ailing him and finished with 36 saves to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Cedric Paquette scored the winning goal late in the third period after Brandon Saad and Ondrej Palat exchanged goals 13 seconds apart. Ryan Callahan and Brad Richards had goals in the first period.
Star Performer: The Lightning brought three goaltenders to the United Center because they were unsure if Bishop could play after he left Game 2 due to an undisclosed issue, but he led Tampa Bay onto the ice and withstood numerous barrages from the Blackhawks in arguably the most inspiring performance of his career.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman also deserves a mention for another stellar performance. He led Tampa Bay in time on ice, finishing with four shots, three hits, five blocked shots, and a pair of highlight-reel assists – a slap-pass from behind the goal line to the opposite blue line to set up Callahan's goal and threading the puck through the slot on Paquette's winner.
Turning Point: Saad's goal could have easily put the Lightning on their heels, but the line of Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson responded by flying into Chicago's zone off the ensuing faceoff to restore the tie and give Tampa Bay new life.
Goalie Comparison: Corey Crawford stopped 17 shots during an excellent performance in the second period, but didn't fare as well with a lighter workload, allowing a goal on seven shots in the first and two on eight shots in the third. Bishop stole the show with his performance, which included 18 saves in the opening 20 minutes.
| Goalie | Shots | GA | Saves | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop | 38 | 2 | 36 | .947 |
| Crawford | 32 | 3 | 29 | .906 |
Stat of the night: Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was forced to lean on his top three defensemen even more when Johnny Oduya left the game during the second period. Oduya returned for the third, but Duncan Keith finished with 31:03 time on ice - more than half of the contest.
Series at a glance
Game 1: Blackhawks 2, Lightning 1
Game 2: Lightning 4, Blackhawks 3
Game 3: Lightning 3, Blackhawks 2
Game 4: Wednesday, June 10, 8 p.m. ET
Game 5: Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m. ET
Game 6*: Monday June 15, 8 p.m. ET
Game 7*: Wednesday June 17, 8 p.m. ET
*if necessary