Not so with this year's Stanley Cup Finals. In fact, it's welcomed after last night's triple overtime marathon between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins.
When Michal Rozsival's shot deflected off Dave Bolland and Andrew Shaw past Tuukka Rask for a 4-3 Chicago win, it ended a classic contest that featured 117 shots on goal and some amazing saves by Rask and Corey Crawford. There were several times where I thought the game was about to end, only to see the puck inexplicably stay out of the net either because of a great save or a key defensive clear.
The big question is, how will Boston respond? The Bruins haven't been in the position of coming from behind in a series during this postseason, and the Blackhawks are far more persistent on the puck than the Pittsburgh Penguins or the New York Rangers. The fact that Chicago rallied from a 3-1 deficit with two quick third-period goals (after Boston appeared to have control) speaks volumes about the grit and determination the Blackhawks possess. They certainly didn't get frustrated and break down like the Penguins did in Games 1 and 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against Boston.
Luckily for the Bruins (and the Blackhawks, for that matter), they'll have three days to recover before waging another battle in Saturday's Game 2 back at Chicago's United Center.
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