For the third time in six years, the Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup champions.
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The Blackhawks blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 at the United Center in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday to win the NHL's highest honor for the third time since 2010.
Like their 2010 and 2013 championship wins, Chicago won the series in six games, but this was the first time the Blackhawks paraded the greatest trophy in sports around on home ice since 1938.
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Here are five reasons why the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup:
1) Toews & Kane
Chicago's core is responsible for it reaching the highest plateau in the NHL yet again, and an argument can be made that no two forwards mean more to their teams than captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. It may have took Kane, 26, until the final game of the series to score his first goal, but after being sidelined with a broken clavicle that was supposed to keep him out until the Western Conference Final, he not only returned for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he led the Blackhawks with 11 goals and 23 points. Toews, 27, was right behind Kane with 21 points off of 10 tallies and 11 helpers and he also won 56.1 percent of his face-offs this spring.
2) Duncan Keith
No one was more deserving of the Conn Smythe Trophy than key Blackhawks' blue liner Duncan Keith, who was relied upon heavily throughout the championship run and never wavered. Keith averaged 31:06 time on ice throughout the playoffs, a taxing endeavor that he took in stride, while leading the team with 18 assists and ranking tied for second on the club with 21 points. Keith also scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
3) Durable 'D'
Keith wasn't alone in shouldering the defensive load for the Blackhawks as the team relied heavily on its top-four blue liners to get the job done. Brent Seabrook (26:17), Niklas Hjalmarsson (26:02) and Johnny Oduya (24:45) each logged heavy minutes on average throughout the postseason run. The trio also combined for eight goals, 14 assists and 22 points. The Blackhawks held the Lightning, which was the top-scoring team in the NHL in the regular season, to 10 goals in the playoffs.
4) Ailing Bishop
You can't take anything away from the Blackhawks for winning the Stanley Cup, but most teams also need a little bit of help along the way. With the news coming down that Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was playing with a torn groin and wasn't 100 percent, it certainly factored into the postseason run.
5) Crawford's Comeback
Corey Crawford was benched during part of the team's first-round series against the Nashville Predators, but he bounced back admirably in Round 2 against the Minnesota Wild and helped lead Chicago to the Promised Land. Crawford shutout the Lightning in the decisive Game 6 and went 13-6-1 overall in the postseason with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage while notching two shutouts and held the NHL's highest-scoring regular season team to just 10 goals in the six games of the Stanley Cup Final.
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