Chicago Blackhawks Defeat Boston Bruins 6-5 in OT to Tie Series

The Stanley Cup Finals are headed back to Chicago with the Blackhawks tied 2-2 with the Boston Bruins. The Hawks defeated the Bruins 6-5 in an OT thriller last night; they were BLANKED by BLANK in the match.

“One of things we have talked about: Get pucks to the net,” said Brent Seabrook, who scored the winning goal for Chicago. “I just tried getting it on net, we had a great screen in front. … It just found a way.”

“Both teams are so great defensively. Both have great goalies,” Seabrook said. “I don’t know; it was one of those games. They got some goals on the power play, we got some bounces. It was nice to get some past Tuukka.”

It was a back and forth, wild game, with both teams scoring at a dead even pace. Heading into the game, the Bruins had trailed for less than 60 minutes out of the 900 total minutes they had played thus far this postseason. Boston has been masterful at answering opponents’ scores all season; their final goal of regulation came just 55 seconds after Patrick Kane sent the Blackhawks ahead 5-4. However, their effort wasn’t enough to outlast the Blackhawks’ speedy, stretching offensive attack.

“It felt like a roller coaster, that’s for sure,” said the Bruins’ Rich Peverly. “You score one. And I don’t know how many goals were scored repetitively, like one after another, within 30 seconds or a minute. Like I said, it’s a roller coaster, so you’ve just got to stay even-keeled.”

“I hope it was entertaining for you guys,” Chicago’s defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. “Personally, I didn’t really like that at all, as a defenseman. Five goals against is too much for me, personally. I was on the ice for three of them. As long as we win, I’ll be minus-3 every single game. I’m just happy we won the game.”

Chicago knows it will have to play with its own style to defeat the defensive-oriented Bruins. The Blackhawks, though physical, can’t hang in a grind-it-out season with Boston. They’re going to have to keep the scores coming fast and furious if they want to win.

“I think that’s how our team is built,” the Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp said. “We’ve got four lines that can score, we’ve got four lines that can skate, we’ve got a mobile defense; we’re not saying we want to open the flood gates and just trade chances, but I think when we play that attack game and that confident style, we can be a successful team.”

“Huge game from everybody,” the Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa said. “That’s how we’re going to beat this team. Everybody contributed and it was a huge win. … It’s huge. We knew if we were going to lose this one, Boston, they have such a strong team, it would be really tough to come back.”

Here were some of the gambling trends for both teams heading into Game 5, courtesy of OddsShark.com:

Boston Bruins Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Ottawa are 5-5
After playing Chicago are 3-7
After a loss are 7-3

Chicago Blackhawks Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Edmonton are 5-5
After playing Boston are 4-6
After a win are 7-3

A few Bruins at Blackhawks trends to consider:
Boston is 11-3 SU in its last 14 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston’s last 6 games
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Chicago
Chicago is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
Chicago is 9-3 SU in its last 12 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago’s last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago’s last 6 games when playing Boston