Hawks, Bolts trade slap shot goals to open Game 3 scoring

The NHL has become a league where goals are created out of chaos, but Monday in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between Chicago and Tampa Bay, each side got on the scoreboard first via an old-fashioned slap shot.

In an era where chaos goals are the norm, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks both got on the scoreboard for the first time Monday in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final via a less-frequent scoring method: a good, old-fashioned slap shot.

The Bolts got on the scoreboard first when star defenseman Victor Hedman made a brilliant stretch pass from behind Tampa's net to winger Ryan Callahan, who received the puck at Chicago's blueline and ripped it past Hawks goalie Corey Crawford at 5:09 of the first:

Hawks veteran Brad Richards evened things up approximately nine minutes later with his third goal of the playoffs, a from-the-point blast Tampa netminder Ben Bishop allowed late in a Chicago power play:

The teams entered the first intermission tied at a goal apiece, and it's safe to assume the next goal either side gets won't come quite so easily.