Lightning Draw Even in Dramatic Fashion

The Tampa Bay Lightning, leading up to Game 2, were all about being undaunted by the Game 1 loss, unfazed by the hill they had to climb and confident that they could be back in the series after their second game at home.  It might be safe to say, that we can take these guys at their word.

From what I had seen from the Chicago Blackhawks, they were out to play a pretty good road game early on, trying to play some responsible defense and let their transition hockey do most of the talking.

A 1st period marker from Tampa's 4th line was the only difference in a back-and-forth opening frame, where the Lightning had a slight edge in shots on goal, 12-11, and the goalies were definitely kept busy.

In the 2nd, the Lightning momentum didn't last very long, as Andrew Shaw got the Blackhawks on the board, cleaning up a loose rebound in front of Ben Bishop.  Then on the power play, Teuvo Teravainen made it three non-pool goals in a row, picking off the far post, only minutes later, vaulting the Blackhawks into the lead.  That lead didn't last too long, as the non-pool goal streak came to an end with a sweet redirection from Nikita Kucherov and the game was tied again.  Three goals in the first seven minutes of the 2nd period, it was quite the quick-paced game.

Even before the end of the 2nd period, the Lightning were able to take the lead back, as Tyler Johnson squeaked a weak one through Corey Crawford's blocker, body, pad and post and the Bolts carried a 3-2 lead into the intermission.

The 3rd period wasn't short of drama either, as the Blackhawks were not going away, as a Brent Seabrook rocket tied the game up at 3-3, only a few minutes into the frame.  The goal didn't come without controversy, as there seemed to be some contact between Bishop and Marian Hossa, but that didn't shorten the Chicago celebration any.

If this game wasn't crazy enough, Bishop left the game unexpectedly during a commercial timeout, just before a Tampa power play, leaving Andrei Vasilevskiy to tend to the net and then on the ensuing man advantage, the Lightning scored, giving them a 4-3 lead and the young Russian netminder the goalie of record.  Bishop tried to return shortly after, giving whatever issue he had another turn in the net, but it wasn't going to work for him, as Vasilevskiy returned to the net, stopped five shots and that power play marker, scored by Jason Garrison, held up as the eventual winner.

The Lightning manage to recoup a win and an even series, as they head back to Chicago for Game 3, not the most ideal of situations, but Tampa Bay has won more road games than they have home games in these playoffs, so the task isn't too foreign to them.

After the game, there still wasn't much word on Bishop's injury and he wasn't made available for questions either, so we're only left to speculate what the problem could be and whether or not he will be good to go on Monday night for Game 3.  Some of the more interesting theories suggest that he was hurt in a collision with Antoine Vermette in the 3rd period, possibly suffering a groin or a knee injury in the process, but without an official word, all we can do is guess.

The Bishop injury was a big one for Thor, who is leaning heavily on the big Tampa keeper, trying to make it to that 2nd place money. Since Vasilevskiy ended up with credit for the win, the 2 points didn't drop into Thor's team and he wasn't able to pass Jesse at the final horn and Jesse still carries a 1-point lead into Game 3 on Monday night.  Both teams ended up with a few points each in the game, as Kucherov had a couple points for Jesse, matching Victor Hedman's 2 points for Thor and then a single point either way.

The overall lead vaulted back up to 15 points, as Fontanna scored well with the Tampa Bay goals, while Sean L.'s gap from 4th place to 3rd place is still 7 points and unlikely to shrink too dramatically before the end of these playoffs.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.