Chicago Blackhawks win game 5 against Tampa Bay Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. — The Chicago Blackhawks are headed home with a chance to clinch their third Stanley Cup championship in six years on Monday night, thanks to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 on Saturday night at Amalie Arena for a 3-2 series lead.

For the second time this series, Blackhawks center Antoine Vermette scored the game-winner in the third period, having done the same in Game 1 in Tampa. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford held the Lightning to a single goal and won for the second straight game and the third time in five games, with 31 saves, including 26 in the final two periods.

Chicago took the 2-1 lead early in the third as left-winger Kris Versteeg got a breakaway, and Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was able to make a kick save on the initial shot, but Vermette fired in the rebound for a goal.

The Lightning pulled Bishop with 1:05 left in the game but couldn’t even muster a shot on goal, penalized with 8.8 seconds left for having too many men on the ice during a late shift change.

The final has been extremely closely contested with all five games decided by a single goal, and no team leading by more than one goal at any point in 300 minutes of hockey.

Teams leading 3-2 in the Stanley Cup final are 29-8 historically when it comes to winning the final series, though Chicago faces tougher odds with the possibility of Game 7 in Tampa on Wednesday. Teams leading 3-2, but facing a potential Game 7 on the road, are just 6-5 all-time in winning the overall series.

Trailing early and outshot 17-6 midway through the second period, the Lightning got a goal from center Valtteri Filppula to know the score at 1-1 going into the third period.

The Lightning scored the tying goal with 9:07 left in the second period when defenseman Jason Garrison collected a loose puck and sent a pass to Filppula, who fired a wide shot behind Crawford.

The goal was Filppula’s fourth of the playoffs, with Garrison getting his fifth assist and defenseman Anton Stralman his eighth.

The Lightning had a power play just 32 seconds later to keep the momentum but were unable to convert during the extra-man opportunity.

The Lightning were outshot 14-5 in the first period but answered by outshooting the Blackhawks 12-8 in the second period.

The Lightning regained the momentum without one of their top scorers. Right-winger Nikita Kucherov did not return to the ice after suffering an upper-body injury in the first period when he collided with a goal post after nearly scoring on a loose puck.

Chicago’s first-period goal came on a miscommunication in the Tampa Bay defensive zone when Bishop came out to clear a loose puck but collided with defenseman Victor Hedman, allowing Blackhawks left winger Patrick Sharp to collect the puck and score on an empty net for a 1-0 lead.

Bishop’s status had been a question mark entering the game because of an undisclosed injury, but he started and held off Chicago except for the empty-net gaffe.