Blackhawks get the best of Lightning rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks know everything there is to know about winning NHL playoff games and Tampa Bay Lightning rookie goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy knows nothing about it.

That may be the simplest explanation for why the Blackhawks posted a 2-1 decision against the Tampa Bay Lightning to tie the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final 2-2. But it doesn't tell the true story. The Blackhawks had to overcome Vasilevskiy's effective goaltending to pull out this win. They had to overcome their own ineffectiveness to pull out this win.

"The kid gave us a chance to win the hockey game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We only scored one. I thought he was great. … He showed he is at the pinnacle of the sport and that he can play."

Blackhawks winger Brandon Saad corralled his own rebound and pushed a shot through Vasilevskiy's legs at 6:22 of the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

"I'm not saying we played our best hockey game, but we found a way to win," said Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane. "This team has a lot of experience and we can draw from the best situations to help us."

Vasilevskiy was making his first NHL playoff start because whatever injury No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop played through to win Game 3 prevented him from playing Game 4.

"Bish is going to play again in this series, there's no question," Cooper said. "I just don't know which game."

The Blackhawks inexplicably gave Vasilevskiy a fighting chance by generating only two shots on goal in the first period. That allowed him to ease into a pressure-filled situation.

"For whatever reason we were stuck in the mud again," said Blackhawks center Brad Richards.

Vasilevskiy did his job. He didn't lose the game for the Lightning. But he also couldn't pull out a win against a Chicago team that now owns 71 playoff wins since 2009. Vasilevskiy was 14 when the Blackhawks' run of success started.

All of the attention was on Vasilevskiy, but Chicago goalie Corey Crawford was the star of the game, making 24 stops. He posted some game-savers, including a couple in the frantic closing minutes. One particular stop against Steven Stamkos will haunt Tampa Bay fans.

"He's calm and poised in the net," Kane said. "That's nothing new."

Richards said the Blackhawks "hung on for dear life" in the closing minutes.

"(Crawford) just stood tall and made big saves and really made everything look pretty simple tonight," Richards said.

No one from the Lightning has identified Bishop's injury. He was a hero in Game 3, playing through the injury, and playing effectively, to lead his team to a 3-2 win. He looked uncomfortable at times in that victory. He was slow to return to his base and had trouble controlling his rebounds. But he seemed to improve as Game 3 progressed.

The Lightning gave no indication during the Wednesday morning skate that Bishop might not play. No one outside the Lightning dressing room knew Bishop wasn't dressing for the game until he didn't come out for the warmup.

Vasilevskiy, 20, is the youngest starting goalie in the Final since Montreal Canadiens goalie Patrick Roy started at 20 in the 1986 Final.

Undoubtedly, the Blackhawks were looking to put pressure on Vasilevskiy early, but it never happened. The Blackhawks had a sluggish first period

"That was probably our worst game in a while for whatever reason," Richards said. "We really wanted it, but we just kept getting in each other's way. These guys are way better than anybody imagined at checking and trying to frustrate you. "

What makes the Blackhawks the Blackhawks is their ability to win when they play their worst game.

"So we're learning that mentality that it might be 2-1 games the rest of the way," Richards said. "I think we got caught up thinking it would be run and gun, and if we do that, we just feed them. We've got to be more patient than them."

Chicago Coach Joel Quenneville mixed up his lines with the hope of balancing out his offensive attack. Jonathan Toews beat Vasilevskiy at 6:40 of the second period, on the Blackhawks' fifth shot of the game. Vasilevskiy had no chance on the play as Toews slid in the back door and took a quality pass from Patrick Sharp.

With no pressure put on him by the Blackhawks, Vasilevsky seemed to get comfortable in the first period and looked sharp in the second period. He made enough big stops to bolster his confidence. Vasilevskiy played in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League before coming to the NHL. He is considered one of the NHL's best young goalies, a player capable of developing into a star.

Crawford said after Game 2 that he needed to be better. He was better in this game. "Probably one of my best games of the last few," Crawford said. "Then again, I can't think about what happened before. You got to worry about what's next."

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