Hockey

BOSTON – Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final featured 11 goals, back-and-forth action and wild swings in momentum. It was the most entertaining game of the series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins. Unless your name is Tuukka Rask and your job is contingent on not allowing the glorious catharsis of pucks entering nets. “It’s not fun,” said Rask, after the Chicago Blackhawks’ 6-5 overtime win to even the series at 2-2. “We battled back many times. Didn’t make it easy on ourselves. At the end of the day it was a one-goal game.” True, the margin was a single goal, as it was in Game 1’s triple-overtime classic and Game 2’s tightly played sequel. But the six goals allowed by Rask equal his goals allowed in his previous five games, and it’s the first time he’s allowed a 6-spot since Jan. 31. “It’s a 10 goal game after three,” said Rask. “Neither team was playing that well defensively, so it becomes ‘attack, attack.’” Chicago’s attack was in stark contrast with their punchless Game 3 effort. They score on second-chance efforts on Rask, crowded his crease and screened him on shots that were finding their way through the Bruins defense in ways they hadn’t in previous games. “Sometimes games like that happen, that are out of character for us and for them,” said defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. What was out of character for the Bruins: The way they hung Rask out to dry. While his rebound control wasn’t as sharp as in previous games, Boston’s support for its netminder was glaringly nonexistent during Game 4. When Zdeno Chara is a minus-3 and was on the ice for five goals, something's gone amiss. “I felt they got a lot of second opportunities,” said Rask. “It’s not on anybody. It’s things that happen. Tough breaks.” That said, the defense admitted they didn’t bail out Rask enough in Game 4. “We could have helped him a little bit more,” said defenseman Johnny Boychuk. It was an odd game for the Bruins, who had shown incredible defensive poise in the previous two games – “it wasn’t a Bruins type of game,” said Coach Claude Julien. They have two days to regroup before Game 5 back in Chicago. Two days to figure out how mistakes were made and Rask was exposed by six Blackhawks goal-scorers. “It hasn’t been like this in a while. We don’t really like … that,” said Boychuk. "I don't think we played our best game tonight. A lot of different reasons. I think our decision making wasn't very good at times. Didn't think we were moving the puck as well as we had been in the past."

BOSTON – What happened to that vaunted Boston defense? The Bruins entered Wednesday night having allowed just eight goals in their last eight games. But in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, they couldn’t get out of their own way en route to a 6-5 overtime loss. They kept coming back, but ultimately turnovers, failed clearing attempts and an inability to clear the front of their own net were too much to overcome. Much like Game 2 — a game Boston ended up winning in overtime — the Bruins found themselves pinned in their own end for much of the first period. They weren’t strong enough on the puck, and they were consistently half a step too slow in 1-on-1 races. The lackluster play caught up to them 6:48 in, when an unaware Tyler Seguin had his pocket picked by Brandon Saad, leading to a Chicago 2-on-1 and a shorthanded goal at the other end of the ice. “I don’t think we played our best game tonight,” said coach Claude Julien. “I think our decision-making wasn’t very good at times. I didn’t think we were moving the puck as well as we had been in the past. They came out hard, played extremely well. Somehow, again, they had the better of us for the first half of the game until we got ourselves going a little bit.” The Bruins got better as the first period went on and managed to tie the game going into the intermission. But then they started the second period just as slowly as they started the first. This time it bit them twice before they once again turned things around late in the frame. Jonathan Toews managed to carve out some open space in front of Tuukka Rask and wound up with a tip-in goal to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. Two minutes later, the Bruins failed to clear the front of the net again, and this time Patrick Kane buried a third chance after Rask had already stopped two shots in quick succession. Chicago’s fourth goal came on perhaps the most inexcusable mistake. Dennis Seidenberg made a bad pinch in the offensive zone on a puck he really had no chance of keeping in, and the Blackhawks turned it into an easy 2-on-1 the other way. Once again, Rask made the initial save, but no one got back in time to break up Marcus Kruger’s second bid. “I just think we weren’t very sharp in our decision-making,” Julien said of the second period. “Where we talk about having layers, our D’s were pinching, and our forwards weren’t really covering up, weren’t totally committed to that part of the game. That’s when you saw 2-on-1s.” The fifth goal, which came midway through the third, came at the end of a 5-on-3, which no one can really do much about. But the reason the Blackhawks had a 5-on-3 is because Milan Lucic committed an awful turnover at his own blue line that led to a chance for Kane that David Krejci could only break up with a hook. The overtime winner was the result of a great shot by Brent Seabrook more than anything, but you could point a finger at Seidenberg for missing on his block attempt and possibly screening Rask in the process. It hasn’t happened much, but believe it or not, this isn’t the first game of these playoffs in which the Bruins have had some defensive breakdowns. The other times it’s happened, they’ve been able to bounce back. They’ve allowed three goals or more five other times this postseason, and they’ve given up two goals or fewer in the next game each time. The Bruins can absolutely bounce back from this loss. Just in this series, they already bounced back from what was probably an even more devastating loss in Game 1. But they know they need to play a lot better to make that bounce-back happen. “I think if you look at what happened the last game, it didn’t stop [the Blackhawks] from bouncing back,” Julien said. “At this stage of the year, you have to kind of push the games aside, win or lose, and you have to focus on

No. 1 Star: Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks Seabrook fired home the winner for the Blackhawks as his overtime goal gave them a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 4, evening the Stanley Cup Final 2-2. It was his second overtime goal of the playoffs, with the first coming in Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings. No. 2 Star: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins Continuing to make his case for the Conn Smythe Trophy, Bergeron scored a pair of goals that helped the Bruins tie the game at four early in the third period. The first of his two goals came on the power play and was the result of a deflected shot that went off the glass behind Corey Crawford, off the top of the net and right to Bergeron. No. 3 Star: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks Reunited with Jonathan Toews, Kane (and Toews) woke up offensively with a goal and an assist. The goal was Kane's first of series, while Toews put home his first since Game 5 against the Detroit Red Wings in the second round. Honorable mention: Bryan Bickell picked up two assists, his first points of the series ... Marian Hossa played 19:07 and recorded an assist in his return from an injury that forced him to be scratched from Game 3 ... Jaromir Jagr's two assists give him 199 points in 200 career postseason games. Did You Know? Zdeno Chara was on the ice for one goal in the past seven games. He was on the ice for five in Game 4. (@cotsonika) Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins; 2. David Krejci, Boston Bruins; 3. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks; 4. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; 5. Andrew Shaw, Chicago Blackhawks; 6. Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins; 7. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks; 8. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins; 9. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks; 10. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks. Dishonorable mention: It was an off night for the goalies, Tuukka Rask and Corey Crawford, who each allowed their most goals against since March ... All five goals allowed by Crawford went glove side ... Rask's shutout streak ended at 129:14.

Oh, this was unfortunate on Wednesday night in Austin, TX: It was overtime in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. The pressure was high. The next goal would either bury the Chicago Blackhawks in a 3-1 hole or give them new life in a 2-2 series against the Boston Bruins. Viewers watching KXAN in Austin witnessed the Blackhawks cycle in the Bruins zone, tension mounting. And then … they heard KXAN news anchor Sally Hernandez tell us that “you have to love what you do” in order to host a morning show. And that Amanda Dugan is your traffic guru. And then a commercial for Capital KIA and their giving-away-cars prices. And then, after roughly 30 seconds of promos and ads, the station cut back to the game ... to see the Blackhawks celebrating Brent Seabrook’s game-winning goal in overtime. Which KXAN missed. But at least viewers now understand how lucky the morning news team is to work with one another. KXAN issued an epic apology on its newscast after the game (via Awful Announcing). Ironically, it aired right around a feature story on hockey’s growing presence in Austin: “Computer automation will bite ya sometimes.” This is how it begins, the robot apocalypse; not with a rain of nuclear missiles triggered by SKYNET, but by a computer ruining Game 4 for hockey fans in Texas …

What a difference one goal makes.

Pool Photo-US Presswire If you’re the Boston Bruins, you’re feeling the effects of one hefty gut punch right now. After erasing two separate two-goal deficits against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, Boston couldn’t finish, losing in overtime 6-5. But let’s face it, this was a game the Bruins didn’t deserve to win. Yes, they deserve all the credit in the world for refusing to quit no matter how bleak things looked. Yes, they had plenty of chances to steal this game late. However, don’t let their gritty comeback blind you to the fact that this was not the Bruins at the top of their game. For some reason, a lot of people in Boston were assuming, with a 2-1 series lead, this series was pretty much over. Parade routes were being planned, money was being set aside for championship memorabilia, all because the team had a one game edge in the Finals. Anybody still think this now? More importantly, did the Bruins think this as they took the ice tonight? You’d like to think the answer is no, but you could’ve fooled me with what was put on display early on. Boston started this game out pretty much as miserably as possible. Zone entries were a joke, puck possession was non-existent and all the while, Chicago was an absolute buzz saw. How the first period ended in a 1-1 tie is a greater mystery than why so many people still buy Nickelback albums. Sure enough, the Blackhawks made the Bruins pay in the second period, establishing leads of 3-1 and 4-2, respectively. Look, I get it Bruins. You stunned the world in sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, it really was quite a feat. But if you intend on assuming every time you take a series lead the opposing team is going to fold like a lawn chair, this is what’s going to happen. Again, more props than ever for Boston continuing to come back over and over as the night went on. However, this leads me to my next big beef with this game. Why was it that, when the Bruins tied the game at 1-1 and again at 4-4, did they seem to take their foot off the gas? Apparently, 4-4 is the most comfortable lead in hockey, am I right? At least that’s how it looked for Boston, as they decided the fans being loud again meant the Blackhawks would stop trying. I will give the team credit, they stopped this after tying it 5-5, but costly errors in overtime sank the ship for the Bruins. On a night when Corey Crawford‘s glove side was the size of a freeway, Boston just made way too many mistakes. Tyler Seguin‘s soft play of the puck early on lead to Chicago’s first goal. An ill-advised pinch from Dennis Seidenberg resulted in a two-on-one for the Blackhawks that was cashed in on seconds after the Bruins pulled within one. Another brain-blunder by Seidenberg, completely cutting off Tuukka Rask‘s view of the shot, lead to the overtime goal from Brent Seabrook. Overall, it was a pretty miserable night from Boston’s top defensive pair. Seidenberg was at -2 for the night, while captain Zdeno Chara, who had been playing lights out for over a month, was -3. He was crumpled in or around the crease more times than one would like tonight. Even though six goals were allowed, it’s tough to fault Rask on this one. He was completely hung out to dry by his team all game. I wouldn’t blame him for tearing into a few people in the locker room. And so it is; Boston had a chance to choke the life out of Chicago tonight, then took the ice assuming the Blackhawks would just do all the work for them. Playing all-around solid hockey is the reason the Bruins made it this far in the first place. Deciding not to play solid tonight is the reason Chicago now has all the momentum in this series. Casey Drottar is a Boston Bruins writer for Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook

Ray Allen resurrected the Heat with a clutch 3- pointer near the end of regulation, and Miami did just enough in overtime to force a winner-take-all Game 7 in the NBA Finals. The instant classic at American Airlines Arena ended with Chris Bosh blocking Danny Green's 3-point attempt to seal the Heat's 103-100 victory and deny the San Antonio Spurs a fifth championship. The Spurs wasted a 13-point second half lead and were ahead by five with 28.2 seconds left in regulation before LeBron James and Allen each connected from long range to send Game 6 to an extra session. James scored the go-ahead bucket in OT and finished with his second triple-double of the series with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Tim Duncan had a monster 25-point first half, but managed just five after the break and went the last 21:30 without scoring as he watched a fifth ring slip through his fingers. The Spurs have another chance Thursday but have history against them. The last five Game 7s in the Finals have been won by the hosts.

Jun 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) celebrates with defenseman Duncan Keith (2) after scoring the game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the overtime period in game four of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports The first period was the story of the Hero and the goat.  The Hawks came out in the first period playing hard and they had all the momentum.  The Bruins got a very early powerplay on a very soft interference call on Johnny Oduya.  The Hawks finally scored on the powerplay in this series but it was the Boston Bruins powerplay as Brandon Saad made a great play and push up the ice and fed Michal Handzus who buried it past Tuukka Rask for a 1-0 lead and short-handed goal. The part of the hero of the first period was played by Saad but when the Bruins second powerplay was about to run out the Hawks won a faceoff but Saad couldn’t clear the puck then had a second chance to clear but fell to the ice and Rick Peverly put one past Corey Crawford glove side as Crawford didn’t move and the score was all tied up.  So as quickly as Saad was the hero he became the goat of the period.  The Hawks owned the first half of the period but the Bruins after Saad’s failed clear claimed it for the second half of the period.  The question coming out for the second would be if the Hawks could regain any of the momentum it had lost. The second period was the first truly wild period of the series to date. The Hawks got the first goal of the period which was scored by the Captain on a deflection off a Michal Rozsival shot. It was the first goal by Jonathan Toews since Game #5 of the Detroit Red Wings series.  Next up for big guns that needed to show up tonight was Patrick Kane who picked up a rebound and buried it into an empty net.  The 3-1 lead seemed huge but it didn’t last long as a play in front of Crawford broke down and Milan Lucic put in a rebound past Crawford.  Crawford sure had the look of someone fighting it for most of the second period. The Hawks regained a 2 goal cushion when Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger put on a nice 2 on 1 break and Kruger on a second effort put it in for a 4-2 lead. The momentum seemed to be back in the Hawks favor but the refs called a truly weak hooking call on #88 and the Bruins went on the powerplay.  Zdeno Chara put one high off the glass and a fluky bounce fell nicely into the crease and Patrice Bergeron easily put it in the back of the net.  The last second of the period was pretty crazy with three awesome chances by the Bruins including a premature horn by the Boston staff but in the end mercifully the horn sounded and the Hawks headed to the second intermission with a 4-3 lead and a crazy period had come to an end. The third period started with Bruins scoring early in the third period tying  it up with Bergeron’s 2nd of the game after a pretty impressive two man play between him and Jaromir Jagr. The Hawks took the lead 5-4  midway through the third period when the Hawks finally broke their powerplay drought when Patrick Sharp pounced on a Marian Hossa shot from the point.  The lead was short lived by less than a minute when Johnny Boychuk tied it with a blast from the middle of the ice past Crawford’s glove hand.  The rest of the period was chances both ways but in the end for the third time in four games in this Stanley Cup Final the game was heading to overtime.  The Hawks really threw everything they had at the Bruins putting 16 third period shots on goal to the Bruins 8 but in the end it would take extra time to decide this very exciting contest. Another overtime but this one was different than the first two games that went into extra time , because  this was a serious gut check for the Blackhawks because the series was either in dire straits at 3-1 Boston or heading back to Chicago tied up 2-2.  The Bruins had early momentum in overtime with Duncan Keith

Several teams involved...NY Islanders, Devils, Flyers also possibly Toronto...price is "very high" Also updated Rumor Chart. more to come...tonight

"If he sees the puck, he's going to be almost impossible to beat."