Late goal gives Blackhawks 1-0 lead in Stanley Cup Finals

The Chicago Blackhawks overcame a slow start to race past the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday.

Trailing 1-0 deep into the third period, Tuevo Teravainen tied the contest with a wrist shot at 13:28 before Antoine Vermette came through with the game-winner with less than five minutes to play.

With the game looking like it would head to overtime, Chicago put pressure on the Lightning and when the puck came loose in their zone Vermette gathered and fired it past goaltender Ben Bishop to complete the comeback.

Game Two of the best-of-seven series is on Saturday in Tampa Bay.

For much of the night it looked as though the Lightning had the measure of the Blackhawks, who have won two of the last five Stanley Cups.

Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn opened the scoring at 4:31 in the first period, swatting the puck out of mid-air with his back to the net.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said during the game that his team had been surprised by Tampa Bay’s speed as the Blackhawks usually hold that advantage over their opponents.

While Tampa Bay have only been to the Finals once, winning the Cup in 2004, Chicago have tons of big-game experience and their patience paid off on Wednesday. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)