The Stanley Cup Finals will get underway tonight at 8:00 p.m. in the United Center, where the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Boston Bruins in the first game of a seven-game series. Game 1 will be televised on NBC and can be live streamed here. The Bruins radio broadcast can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub, while the Blackhawks' fans can listen in on WGN 720.
Both the Blackhawks and Bruins are coming off surprisingly dominant series victories over their opponents; their swift wins weren't surprising because of their own expectations, but rather the quality of opponents that were so easily disposed of.
The Blackhawks shrugged off the defending champion Los Angeles Kings in five games, asserting their utter dominance by shattering the Kings' spirits in a come-from-behind road win on Los Angeles' home ice.
Entering the Stanley Cup Finals, Chicago boasts a trio of players, Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell and Marian Hossa, who are in the top five postseason goal scorers. They are numbers two, three and four respectively, trailing Boston's David Krejci.
Both teams have explosive scorers, great depth, and surging goaltenders. Tuukka Rask earned all the headlines by stoning Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for four straight games, but Corey Crawford did well against the Kings too, holding them to two goals or less in three of the Blackhawks' four victories.
Blackhawks general manager, Steve Bowman, spoke glowingly of Crawford. "The consistent play that we've had game in, game out, it's been that way from the beginning of the year. We know we're going to get a great performance from him every night."
Andrew Ference, a Bruins defenseman, spoke equally well of Rask, who allowed Pittsburgh to score twice in four games. "He's just, I think, fundamentally a good goalie. As far as positioning and his style, he has a very consistent style, so he doesn't really get himself into I think too many bad situations."
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