Jason Garrison slapped in the game-winner in the third period as the Tampa Bay Lightning avoided another late collapse to beat visiting Chicago 4-3 and even the Stanley Cup Final at 1-1 on Saturday. The Lightning, who let in two third-period goals in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday, did not panic this time after the Blackhawks leveled at 3-3.
Instead, Garrison capitalized on a power-play chance with 11:11 remaining, his shot rebounding off the skate of Chicago ’s Andrew Desjardins and fooling goaltender Corey Crawford .
“We were more aggressive tonight. In Game One we sat back a little bit,” Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson told reporters. “We played our style.
"It’s a best-of-five series now. Chicago is a great team, it’s going to be a battle.”
The series moves to Chicago for Game Three on Monday.
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The Blackhawks, who are seeking their third Stanley Cup title in six seasons, appeared set to take a 2-0 series lead home when they struck for two quick scores in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit.
Andrew Shaw netted the first before 20-year-old Teuvo Teravainen had his second goal of the series to put the visitors ahead 2-1.
Tampa Bay fought back in an action-packed second period with Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson each beating Crawford to grab a 3-2 lead.
Johnson had not scored in five games for the Lightning but broke out of his slump with his 13th goal of the post-season to set a Tampa Bay record.
Brent Seabrook made it 3-3 for the Blackhawks in the third on a shot that saw Chicago ’s Marian Hossa shielding goaltender Ben Bishop , drawing complaints from Tampa Bay.
The winning goal was set up by a high-sticking penalty from Chicago ’s Patrick Sharp who had just come out of the penalty box for a slashing call.
"I don't think I've ever done that before, but it happened," Sharp said. "We'll move on from it. I take responsibility and apologize to our penalty-killers for putting them under such stress."
The Blackhawks pushed hard for another equalizer, but this time Tampa Bay killed off a power play and survived an extra Chicago attack in the final minutes.
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Backup Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy ensured the victory by saving all five shots he faced after replacing starter Ben Bishop late in the third.
