Triple OT Benefits the Hawks

A much closer game in Anaheim on Tuesday night, as some extra overtime periods were needed, nearly three full periods to be exact.

Much like Tampa Bay, the night before, the Chicago Blackhawks showed why they were in the Conference Finals to begin with, showing a ton of resolve and battling through some of the tough spots in these playoffs.  They got off to a good start, scoring a pair of early power play goals, capitalizing on the chances given to them by the Anaheim Ducks, but if you're going to count out the Ducks, you're quacking crazy.  The Ducks managed to get one before the end of the opening frame and then tied it up late in the 2nd.

The deadlocked 2-2 scoreline went through two full overtimes and then another 16 minutes in the third extra period before non-pool forward Marcus Kruger finished it for the Hawks, picking up some trash in front of the Anaheim net and depositing it in the bin.

It was a mish-mash of single points through the lineup and since the winner was scored by a non-pool player, only Corey Crawford was good enough for a mention, as a notable player in this game.  Crawford made 60 saves in the game and was the best player in the game, by a nose.

As expected, David Rundblad was back in the press box for the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, having only played one game in these playoffs and not having the kind of impact on the game that the coaching staff could have hoped for.  With the win, it seems unlikely that Rundblad will see any more time soon.

The lead was trimmed a little bit on Tuesday night, as Jesse P. took advantage of a Blackhawks win and took Fontanna's lead down from 11 points to 8 points and the race gets a little bit more interesting with the turn of events.

Jesse also opened up a little bit more of a gap on 3rd place with the Crawford win, as his buffer zone increased from 2 points to 6 points and now he sits comfortably in 2nd place.

So, Fontanna leads with 198 points, Jesse follows with 190 and Stacey rounds out the money with 184 points.

The race for 3rd place is still interesting, as Sean L. is at 183 points, Thor is at 180 points, while Sairosh and Grant S. is at 178 points.  I am hoping to have a good breakdown of the money teams here in the next day or so, it may give us some insight as to how the race will finish up.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.