Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup Hopes Shattered In 17-Second Span
BOSTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — In 17 stunning seconds, Tuukka Rask's solid postseason was shattered.
So was Boston's season.
That's all the time the Chicago Blackhawks needed to rally and win the Stanley Cup with a 3-2 victory over the Bruins on Monday night.
"It's shocking," Rask said.
Dave Bolland tied the game with 1:16 left, Brian Bickell put Chicago ahead with 59 seconds to go and, when time ran out, the Blackhawks had their second championship in four years.
The Bruins' hopes of winning their second in three years were finished.
"You are going to remember forever," Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. "You remember winning (the Cup), but I think you remember losing it a little bit more."
The Bruins won it two years ago behind the spectacular goaltending of Tim Thomas. When he decided to take this season off, Rask stepped in and played just as well for long stretches of the postseason.
He allowed only two goals in a four-game sweep of the high-scoring Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. On Monday, he let that many get by him in just 17 seconds in his last game of the season.
"It's shocking because you think you have things under control," said Rask. "We killed off a big penalty there and we were thinking we were going to keep it tight and maybe score an empty-netter. Then all of a sudden they score a goal and you have to go out there again and keep playing."
Rask couldn't do much to stop either goal. Bickell scored from the edge of the crease on a feed from Jonathan Toews. Bolland connected on a rebound after a shot deflected off Michal Frolik and the post.
