When you have to write 82+ recaps over the course of the season, there are times you hope for the dramatic narrative to develop at some point during the game so that the job is a little easier. Early in the third period, with the score tied at twos between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Chicago Blackhawks, it looked like that easy narrative was unfolding in front of us.
A holding penalty by Darren Raddysh had created a power play for the ‘Hawks. A minute-thirty into the kill, Yanni Gourde’s stick caught Connor Bedard in the lip.