Fansided

Stanley Cup Final preview: Blackhawks vs. Lightning

By Lauren Lapka

Feb 27, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop (30) looks at Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) after making a save during the third period at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop (30) looks at Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) after making a save during the third period at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning have won their respective conferences to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

After seeing the Blackhawks and Lightning each endure a seven-game series in their Conference Finals, it seems fitting that these two survivors vie for the Cup. For most, seven hockey games would be enough but these two teams combined to play seven overtimes on their way here. That’s a lot of hockey for any good club. Now, let’s see what they’ve got left.

The Blackhawks and the Lightning have a lot in common, except one team is a young up and comer and the other has become one of the most experienced playoff teams. They are both fast with a large amount of talent on offense. Out of the top five goalscorers in the postseason, four of them will be playing in the final series. Tyler Johnson leads with 12 goals, Patrick Kane is right behind him tied for second with 10, and tied for fourth are Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Toews with nine. Johnson also leads in points with 21, but of course Patrick Kane is right behind him with 20. Nikita Kucherov also has a spot in the top five. Chicago is a slightly stronger puck possession team. They take every advantage they get to put the puck on the net. This post season they’re averaging 32.6 shots per game, Tampa Bay’s averaging 28.5

Where Tampa Bay will have an edge against Chicago is on special teams. Tampa Bay has a 22.2 percent success rate on the power play and an 81.2 percent success rate on the penalty kill. Chicagos power play is 19.6 percent and penalty kill is 75.5 percent. However, Anaheim had the best special teams out of the four teams in the conference finals with a 26.7 percent power play and an 84.2 percent penalty kill. Chicago managed to score five power play goals against them, one shorthanded, and hold the Ducks to just three.

Tampa Bay has had a lot of help from their young goalie Ben Bishop who has 12 wins this postseason, the best in the playoffs. Bishop has an average 2.15 goals against whereas Corey Crawford has an average 2.56. In terms of save percentage, Bishop has a .920, Crawford’s right behind him with a .919. But let me throw some other numbers at you. In the conference finals, Crawford faced 265 shots (saved 243) against the ducks; Bishop faced just 193 (saved 174) against the Rangers and yet Crawford allowed just three more goals than Bishop. (*Rangers scored a total 21 against the Lightning, 19 against Bishop, Andrei Vasilevskiy replaced Bishop in the third period of Game 6).

PLAYERS TO LOOK FOR

It’s very hard to choose just one player for Chicago, but after five goals in the Western Conference Final against Anaheim, I’m going to have to stick with the captain Jonathan Toews. Arguably his most incredible performance was in Game 5 when he scored two goals late to send the game into overtime. As per usual, Toews is stepping up big for his team when they need him most. Although, if Coach Quenneville continues to play him and Kane on the same line, the combo of two of leagues most deadly forwards will prove to be troublesome. The two alone racked up 39 shots-on-goal against the ducks and we all know how aggressive they are.

Honestly, it’s hard to choose just one player for Tampa Bay too. They have one of the best lines in the game with Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Nikita Kucherov, but i’ll play the easy favorite and focus on Johnson. I already mentioned he leads the postseason in points (21) and goals (12) but he managed to pull out a hat trick in Game 2 against the Rangers, a rare occurrence in the playoffs. Not only that, but one of those goals was shorthanded! However, just like Toews, Johnson has a handful of strength surrounding him up front so it’s hard to choose who will come out swinging.

INJURIES

Chicagos Trevor Van Riemsdyk, who has been out with a wrist injury, will be traveling with the team to Tampa.  Michal Rozsival is still out with a fractured ankle.

Tampa Bay is healthy.

PREDICTION

Be ready for a high scoring series. Both goaltenders are incredibly talented, but even Martin Brodeur or Glen Hall would struggle against these top-notch scorers. Tampa Bay certainly has the ability to take this series. They are growing into a strong, diverse team, unfortunately it’s the growing that will hurt them the most. Chicago’s postseason experience is going to benefit them tremendously over this young Lightning team. Other than that, their previous matchup against the Ducks has prepared them for a fast and talented special teams team. I have the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup in 6.

SCHEDULE:

GAME 1: June 3, Chicago @ Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBC

GAME 2: June 6, Chicago @ Tampa Bay 7:15ET/6:15CT NBC

GAME 3: June 8, Chicago vs. Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBCSN

GAME 4: June 10, Chicago vs. Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBCSN

*GAME 5: June 13, Chicago @ Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBC

*GAME 6: June 15, Chicago vs. Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBC

*GAME 7: June 17, Chicago @ Tampa Bay 8:00ET/7:00CT NBC

* – Denotes ‘if necessary’

For more of my videos, check out my author page here. Now that you know what my thoughts on it are, let me know what you think in the comments below or send me a tweet on the interwebs @LaurenLapka

More from Chicago Blackhawks

Home/Chicago Blackhawks