Oddsmakers will tell you the Chicago Blackhawks should win their third Stanley Cup in the last six years, but it would be silly to count out the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Jon Cooper’s group were 1-0-1 against Joel Quenneville’s Blackhawks in the regular season and there’s several reasons the Lightning can pull off the upset. For a look at the Chicago side, click here.
Bishop can steal games Crawford can’t…
If there’s one player on either team that can single-handedly win this series it’s Ben Bishop.
Sure, you can point to Bishop’s inconsistency as a concern. He allowed five goals against in three of the last five games against the Rangers, but in the other two he earned road shutouts. Overall, Bishop’s post-season stats are better than his regular season numbers. The opposite is true for Corey Crawford.
Bishop has proven this year he plays his best when it’s all on the line. He shut out the Red Wings in Game 7 of the opening round, allowed just one goal when the Lightning eliminated the Canadiens in Game 6 and shut out the Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.
Speed…
One element that set Chicago apart from Anaheim especially late in the Western Conference final was their speed. They were the quicker team against the bruising Ducks, but they won’t have that same advantage against the Lightning.
It’s not just speed in terms of skating the Lightning possess either. They move the puck as quickly and efficiently as any team in the league.
When you’ve got defencemen like Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman – who is quickly emerging as one of the steadiest blueliners in the NHL – making stretch passes like the one below, it keeps opposing players on edge.
Special teams…
The man advantage can make or break a team in a series and the Lightning have a clear advantage over the Blackhawks in this department. The Lightning are operating at a 22.2 percent efficiency rate on the power play compared to Chicago’s 19.6 percent. Tampa also has a better penalty kill (81.2 percent) than the Blackhawks (75.5 percent). If the Blackhawks play undisciplined and take penalties they’ll find themselves watching Gary Bettman hand Lord Stanley’s Cup to Steven Stamkos.