It's difficult to suggest that the Chicago Blackhawks haven't earned the enviable position of wrapping up a third Stanley Cup championship of the "modern era" at home on Monday, thanks in large part to Saturday's 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
They got the game's first goal via a Bishop gaffe yielding a Patrick Sharp tally, they weathered the Lightning's 2nd-period storm and Valtteri Filppula's game-tying goal, and in the 3rd, Bishop had little chance on the defensive mash-up (literally) that led to Antoine Vermette's gamer:
The Blackahwks have simply been calmer and more poised in the situations that determine the outcome of games, and that's why they're pretty bloody close to winning another Cup.
Both teams are clearly mentally and physically fatigued playing into the middle of June, but when the Hawks have had to be sharp, they've been razor-sharp.
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