Lightning vs. Blackhawks: Game 4 Score and Reaction from 2015 Stanley Cup Final

The Chicago Blackhawks' penchant for overcoming adversity was on full display once again Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final as they battled through a slow start to beat the Tampa Lightning 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago and even the series at two games apiece.

As ESPN Stats & Info noted, the victory continued the Blackhawks' trend of winning when the pressure is at its peak in the playoffs:

Also, the one-goal deficit made this the most tightly contested Stanley Cup Final through four games in 47 years, per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press:

Forward Brandon Saad scored the decisive goal for the Blackhawks at the 6:22 mark of the third period when he beat 20-year-old goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was unexpectedly thrust into action.

Huge news broke shortly before the start of Game 4 when the Lightning announced starting goaltender Ben Bishop would be unable to play. According to the Bolts' official Twitter account, the nature of Bishop's injury remains unknown:

Bishop was well enough to perform at an elite level in a Game 3 win for the Lightning, but he was forced to step aside in favor of Vasilevskiy Wednesday night. The Russian won Game 2 in relief of Bishop when he left the contest with an undisclosed ailment.

Game 4 was a tough position for the young netminder to be in, however, as it had been more than two months since his last start in goal, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Even so, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper had confidence in his backup. When asked about the goaltending situation prior to Game 3, Cooper made it clear he still felt his team could win with Vasilevskiy between the pipes, according to ESPN.com's Katie Strang.

"If Bish can't go tomorrow, is that a blow to us? Sure it is. But do we think the series is lost because Vasilevskiy is going in? Not a chance," Cooper said. "I don't know. I look at our tandem. I'd like to stack them up against any tandem in the league because I think we've got, you know, 1 and 1A."

Cooper's faith was certainly understandable considering Vasilevskiy's track record. He was the No. 19 overall selection in the 2012 NHL draft and medaled three times in the World Junior Championships in addition to winning World Championship gold with Russia in 2014.

Per TSN's Bob McKenzie, Vasilevskiy has limitless potential similar to that of Montreal Canadiens goalie and MVP candidate Carey Price:

Despite Vasilevskiy's reputation, one would have predicted entering Game 4 that Chicago's game plan would be to test him early and often in hopes of creating some mistakes. That wasn't the case, though, as the Blackhawks mustered a mere two shots on goal in the first period.

Part of that was due to them being shorthanded on three occasions, but the Blackhawks didn't generate anything in even-strength situations or parts of two power plays, either.

NBC analyst Keith Jones seemingly felt Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville's decision to shake his lines up may have had something to do with the team's early struggles, according to NBC Sports PR:

Corey Crawford was easily the busier goalie in the opening stanza, and he was very much up to the task. He stopped all nine Tampa shots, including a dandy on postseason scoring leader Tyler Johnson late in the period, per Chris Peters of CBSSports.com:

Chicago was finally able to generate its first quality scoring chance a little over five minutes into the second period on a shot from the point by defenseman Johnny Oduya.

After his blast tipped off the post, the Lightning quickly cleared it away. As Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News pointed out, Vasilevskiy was fortunate on the play because he didn't track the puck well:

Just one minute later, the Blackhawks hit the post again when forward Patrick Sharp couldn't bury a partial breakaway. It seemed as though everything was going against the Western Conference champions, but the momentum shifted in their direction shortly afterward.

Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman couldn't clear the zone after Sharp's near-miss, which resulted in Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews beating Vasilevskiy on a scramble in front of the net to put Chicago in front 1-0 despite its poor early play.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, that marker cemented the best goal-scoring postseason of the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner's already incredible career:

The United Center crowd was finally engaged after that goal, but their exuberance didn't last long, as the Lightning leveled things at one goal apiece just over five minutes later.

Forward Alex Killorn netted his ninth goal of the playoffs off a nifty pass from Valtteri Filppula behind the net. Per Bryan Burns of TampaBayLightning.com, Crawford was totally fooled on the play:

"

What a feed from Valtteri Filppula to find Killorn on the door step for the score. Crawford completely unaware where puck was. #TBLightning

— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) June 11, 2015"

It wasn't entirely Crawford's fault, as defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk committed an unexpected and crucial turnover, which allowed the Bolts to set up the play.

The remainder of the period was scoreless, which sent the two teams into the third period of an enormous Game 4 on equal footing.

While Chicago enjoyed a couple of flurries in the second period, the Lightning were certainly the better team overall in the opening 40 minutes. In fact, Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times observed that the Blackhawks didn't look like a Stanley Cup Final team:

Nonetheless, they gave themselves a chance to win the game and tie the series if they could simply win the third period.

Chicago nearly took a 2-1 lead 6:14 into the final frame, but veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen hit the crossbar, which marked the Blackhawks' third close call of the game.

As was the case with Sharp's shot off the post, though, the Blackhawks recovered quickly and erased the negative memory. Following the faceoff, Patrick Kane dumped the puck to Saad, who snuck a shot through Vasilevskiy's legs to make it 2-1.

Playoff veteran Brad Richards winning the draw was key to Saad's goal, and it marked the continuation of Chicago's dominance in the faceoff circle, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen:

The Blackhawks were able to maintain that lead entering the latter stages of the game, but the Lightning made a late push after pulling Vasilevskiy.

They generated a number of chances and left Crawford scrambling on multiple occasions in the closing seconds of the tilt, but they couldn't manage to find the equalizer.

Jim Rome of CBS Sports summed up Crawford's late-game heroics quite succinctly:

Game 4 certainly didn't represent a vintage Blackhawks performance, as they were forced to grind it out and struggled offensively for the third time in four contests. However, their experience was evident in the third period as they outworked the Lightning and were able to preserve the lead.

Tampa played like the more experienced squad in Games 2 and 3, but when it had the opportunity to all but put the series out of reach, it didn't rise to the occasion.

While Vasilevskiy only allowed two goals, he looked shaky at times on the limited number of shots he faced. If the Bolts are forced to move forward with him as the starter, they could find it difficult to win the series.

The Blackhawks are bound to improve offensively because of their experience and depth, and it remains uncertain if Vasilevskiy would be able to handle that type of onslaught.

Bishop's status is hush-hush in Tampa Bay, and if he is forced to miss any additional time, Chicago has the edge after seizing momentum with a Game 4 triumph.

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