Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 5: Score, recap, stats, highlights

The Blackhawks are the first team eliminated from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After leading as tied with the Golden Knights for the first 41:34 of the game, Alex Tuch scored the game-winning goal to send the Blackhawks pack up with a 4-3 loss in Game 5 of the game. first conference series of the Western Conference at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist for Vegas, who will play the lowest remaining seed in the second round of the West. Mark Stone and Alec Martinez also scored, and William Karlsson had two assists. Robin Lehner made 23 saves.

Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scored, and Corey Crawford made 35 saves for the No. 8 seed Chicago, which lost three games in the series by one goal.

The Blackhawks will choose no. 16 or no. 17 have in the NHL Draft, depending on whether the Canadiens rally to defeat the top-seeded Flyers of the Eastern Conference. If Montreal is eliminated, Chicago will choose no. 17 have.

The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead as they did in Game 4, but just like in Game 4, the Golden Knights responded within a minute of the second goal.

Toews put a loose puck at the door and put it past Lehner for a 1-0 lead at 10:32. Brayden McNabb turned the puck around, and Brandon Saad sent a pass over the right faceoff circle to Kubalik for a shot from backhand that nodded to Toews.

Dylan Strome took Connor Murphy’s spin-o-rama pass and found Alex DeBrincat, who failed to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-0 at 18:19.

Crawford delivered early in the first period with several major savings to keep Vegas off the scoreboard.

The Golden Knights then tied it 2-2, with Pacioretty hitting a handball, with 31 seconds left in the first period, and Mark Stone finishing a pass from Karlsson 57 seconds in the second period. Chicago looked like it was caught on a bad change to open the scoring chance on Vegas’ second goal.

Kane regained the lead at 04:02 when he made a move on his forehead and the puck slipped under Lehner’s pads. Drake Caggiula helped set up the game by keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

The Blackhawks’ perfect penalty finally gave up a goal at 7:28 when Martinez snatched a cross-ice pass from Reilly Smith in the net for a power play goal to tie it at 3-3.

Tuch revealed he scored his second of the period with 4:47 left, but it was not allowed after Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton successfully challenged for interference from goaltender on Nick Cousins.

Notes

Colliton made a very dubious move, to say the least, to put Alex Nylander ahead of John Quenneville, who was put on the top line with Toews and Dominik Kubalik. Brandon Saad moved to The Third Line with DeBrincat and Strome. The decision to take Quenneville instead of more offensive-minded players Dylan Sikura as Brandon Hagel did not sit well with fans and caused reporters to shake their heads. Colliton even left Quenneville on the ice with less than three minutes left in the game, with the team chasing a goal.

Crawford improved throughout the postseason and kept the Blackhawks in this series. His performances came after he recovered from COVID-19 and only participated in one practice during training camp once. The 35-year-old is an unrestricted free agent and certainly showed his worth during the post season.

Game charts