It was the most suspenseful six games in sports this year. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins and went on to win the Stanley Cup. It was the first Stanley Cup series since 1993 that had three overtime games. After a shortened season due to the NHL lockout, the Finals started on June 12th.
For the Blackhawks, they quickly jumped out as one of the best teams in the league. They set an NHL record when they started the season 24-0. They also scored 77 points in the shortened season which led the league. They breezed through the first round of the playoffs beating the Minnesota Wild in five games. However, they fell to a 3-1 game deficit against the Detroit Red Wings, but managed to come back and win the series with an overtime win in Game 7. They again had no trouble in the conference finals, beating the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
The Boston Bruins were not as dominant as the Blackhawks, many expected them to have down year after goalie Tim Thomas announced that he would be taking a year. Succeeder Tuukka Rask turned out to be very valuable, especially in the playoffs. Their season was interrupted by the bombings that took place at the Boston Marathon. The Bruins and their fans used that moment of tragedy as a sign of strength and Boston became the hottest team in the playoffs. After winning a thrilling overtime game 7 in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, both the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins could not stand in the way of this team on a path to the Cup.
Game one of the Stanley Cup Finals went into triple overtime, with both teams matching each others shots. It was the fifth longest game in Stanley Cup Finals history. Chicago came back to win 4-3 after being down 3-1 in regulation. With a victory in games two and three, the Bruins jumped out to a 2-1 lead over Chicago. The Blackhawks then went on to win the next three games to win the Stanley Cup. Patrick Cane was named the MVP of the series.
