CHICAGO — Brandon Saad and the Chicago Blackhawks finally broke through Tampa Bay’s rookie goalie and then barely hung on to even up the Stanley Cup Final.
Saad scored the tiebreaking goal with 13:38 to play, captain Jonathan Toews scored in the second period and the Blackhawks beat the Lightning 2-1 in Game 4 on Wednesday night, knotting the Final at two games apiece.
Corey Crawford made 24 saves and survived a frantic final minute for the Blackhawks, who rebounded from consecutive defeats in a gritty, defense-dominated game.
Saad scored the eventual winner by chipping a backhand under Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 20-year-old Russian goalie forced into his first NHL playoff start. He made 17 saves while replacing 53-game winner Ben Bishop, who was scratched with an undisclosed lower-body injury after hobbling through Game 3.
Alex Killorn scored in the second period for the Lightning, whose four-game road winning streak ended.
Thumbnail image via David Banks/USA TODAY Sports Images
