Brandon Saad scored the go-ahead goal and the Chicago Blackhawks made it stand up for a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay that leveled the Stanley Cup final.

The Blackhawks knotted the NHL's best-of-seven championship series at two games apiece.

Game five is in Tampa on Saturday, when the Blackhawks will try to take another step toward a third championship in six seasons.

Saad gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead with 13:38 to play, backhanding a shot under Tampa Bay's 20-year-old Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was making his first playoff start.

Vasilevskiy made 17 saves as he stood in for Ben Bishop, who was scratched with an unspecified injury.

Corey Crawford provided a solid performance in the Blackhawks net, making 24 saves.

Captain Jonathan Toews scored his first goal of the series for Chicago, opening the scoring with 13:20 left in the second period.

Five minutes later, Alex Killorn provided the Lightning's lone goal off a pass from Valtteri Filppula.

Crawford then withstood a bevy of shots in the final minute, as Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker, including turning aside a point-blank blast from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.
Source: AFP