Daugavins misses glorious opportunity to win Game 1

CHICAGO -- It will probably be replayed in the head of Boston Bruins forward Kaspars Daugavins over and over.

Not only did he have his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs there for the taking with Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford sprawled on his back and out of position, but he could have ended what would become the longest game of the postseason.

As it turned out, Daugavins would miss wide left and Boston would lose Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final by a 4-3 score a little over two minutes later when Andrew Shaw deflected home a puck at 12:08 of the third overtime.

After taking a feed from Tyler Seguin with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the sixth period, Daugavins skated across the crease and went forehand to backhand before attempting a shot that trickled harmlessly wide.

"I got great feed from [Seguin] back door, and when I got the puck, I was going to shoot, but it felt like [Crawford] had the pad down," a disappointed Daugavins said.

"I watched the replay and had room to shoot it right away, going from forehand to backhand. I had a wide-open net. You just have to put those in … there's no excuse. You have to score those if you want to win."

Following the miss, Daugavins skated back to his bench, took a seat and put his head down in obvious frustration.

"I was more frustrated that I missed it, and after I missed it I thought maybe a [penalty] call because it was pretty obvious there was a stick in my foot," he said. "But you have to score those chances. You can't let those slide by -- especially in triple overtime."

Daugavins seemed determined to get back on the ice and rebound for his teammates.

"It'll hurt until I go to bed and sleep it off," he said. "When we come back, our mind has to already be on Game 2 and I'll try to score if I get a chance."

Game 2 is Saturday at United Center (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

Daugavins was making his third playoff appearance in the absence of the injured Gregory Campbell (broken leg).

"This is my first time in the Stanley Cup Finals … I enjoy every second being out there," Daugavins said. "Obviously you're a little nervous watching everything and playing, but I think it's fun. But that's what you want to have every year playing in Finals and you want to win."

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