Rookie Teravainen delivers for Chicago Blackhawks
TAMPA, Fla. - The kid can play. Man, can he ever.
Teuvo Teravainen, the rookie sensation who can't even grow a playoff beard, was the big hero Wednesday night in the Blackhawks' 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
In a game the Hawks trailed in for more than 40 minutes, Teravainen finally solved goalie Ben Bishop with 6:32 remaining. Moments later, he poked the puck to Antoine Vermette, and the veteran center whipped it past the 6-foot-7 Bishop for the game-winner with 4:34 left.
Bang. Boom. Game.
In just 118 heartbeats, the Hawks turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead and then closed out the stunned Lightning.
"He's got unbelievable skill, unbelievable poise with the puck," Patrick Sharp said. "I think the more he plays - the faster the games are - he's raising his level by simplifying and getting that much better."
Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay just 4:31 into the game on a flat-out, amazing redirect that Corey Crawford had no chance at stopping.
Crawford was sensational in making 22 saves, including a huge one with 8:22 left in the game on a Ryan Callahan breakaway.
"I just know he was solid out there from start to finish," Sharp said of Crawford. "We've come to expect that out of Crow the past few years. I do remember the breakaway - that would've been a turning point in the game. (He) makes a big save for us and we were able to capitalize."
Teravainen, whose other big postseason goal gave the Hawks a 4-3 victory over Minnesota in the second round, said he wasn't at all nervous before the game.
Thinking about the postgame, though? That's another matter all together.
"When I scored the goal," he said, "I think the first thing (I thought) was 'Oh, no, I have to go media right now.' "
Are we that terrifying, he was asked?
"Yeah, you are."
Duncan Keith recorded his 17th assist of the postseason on Teravainen's goal. He took the puck down the left side of the Hawks' zone, eluded Steven Stamkos, reversed course and saw Teravainen standing just a few feet away.
"It was a great play to be there in that spot when I went down (the left side)," said Keith, who has 19 postseason points to tie a career high. "Showed a lot of maturity right there to … cover for me, and it left him open with a nice shot."
Tampa Bay was doing everything it wanted to early on, keeping the Hawks to the outside and giving them very few chances. But the Lightning seemed to go into an offensive shell after the first period, which gave the Hawks the chance to steal the opener and grab home-ice advantage.
"There's a fine line between respect and fear," Brendan Morrow said. "You can respect them; you can't fear them. It looked like in the third we were holding on and the fear of maybe what would be coming and what might happen."
Said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper: "I thought we had chances to put them away. We didn't put them away. Once you do that, to me, that was letting them hang around.
"And ultimately in the end, Teravainen (gets) a seeing-eye single on that one. That goal had eyes."
It also came because Bishop, screened by Marcus Kruger, never saw the puck.
Vermette then registered his second game-winner in just five games with a shot that beat Bishop over his left shoulder. Vermette has just 3 goals in 34 games with the Hawks, but in addition to his double-overtime winner in Game 4 vs. the Ducks, he's certainly starting to pay some huge dividends since coming over in a trade with Arizona.
"I played against them (the Hawks) quite a bit knowing that there's a lot of pride in this room, a lot of character," Vermette said. "They're going to keep battling no matter what.
"So nice to be on that side."
Which, so often during the past six postseasons, is the winning side.
• Follow John's Hawks reports on Twitter @johndietzdh.
Three stars of the game
1. Teuvo Teravainen, Hawks. Scored the Hawks' first goal, then provided a big assist on Antoine Vermette's game-winner.
2. Antoine Vermette, Hawks. Veteran center rips home his second game-winning goal in five games with 4:34 left in the game.
3. Corey Crawford, Hawks. Only goal he allows comes on crazy redirect by Alex Killorn. Biggest save of game comes with 8:22 left on Ryan Callahan breakaway.
- John Dietz