Thanks to another disappointing loss on home ice at Amalie Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning now find themselves on the brink of elimination in the Stanley Cup Final. With a win when the series resumes on Monday at the United Center for Game Six, the Chicago Blackhawks can take home all the marbles. There’s simply no more room for error for the Bolts.
For a team that had so much success at Amalie during the regular season, the Bolts really have struggled there during the playoffs. Maybe it’s the hot weather, or maybe it’s just a reversal of what seems to have been an unsustainable trend. Regardless, the ‘friendly confines’ of Amalie have been anything but friendly over the last two months. Consider that Tampa Bay lost nine games (eight in regulation, one in overtime/shootout) on home ice during the regular season; with Saturday’s result included in the count, they’ve already dropped seven there in the postseason. Crowds at 401 Channelside have been kept too quiet on too many nights this spring.
One of the things commentators like to look for when a team takes to the ice at home is a hot start. That never materialized for the Bolts on Saturday evening. Rather, it was the Blackhawks that pushed the pace through the first period. They tested Ben Bishop, who returned to the ice after sitting for the series’ fourth game, with 14 shots (!) in the first frame. He was nearly perfect. Nearly.
His one mistake was a big one and a bad one. With Victor Hedman comfortably in position to skate onto a puck in the defensive end, Bishop made the mistake of charging for it himself. The result was a collision between the goaltender and Norris-caliber defender, which allowed Patrick Sharp to put the puck in the net without much (read: any) trouble. Not even John Daly would have missed that tap-in.
To make matters worse, the Lightning also lost one of their relatively healthy bodies in the first period. Nikita Kucherov only played 1:17 in game, as he went head/shoulder first into the post beside Corey Crawford and was forced to leave the game:
Ouch! Kucherov leaves the ice after his collision with the goal post pic.twitter.com/ChdHJhvWux
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 14, 2015Chicago’s 1-0 lead, which was established at 6:11 of the first period, held until midway through the second frame. The game was tied courtesy of Valtteri Filppula’s fourth of the playoffs, assisted by Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman. That gave the Bolts a big spark, and ignited the crowd in attendance.
Given how close the series had been through four games, it was hard not to feel like the third goal of the game was going to be a big one. It was. Just two minutes into the third period, Antoine Vermette scored his fourth of the postseason to give the Blackhawks the 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Now, with 18 minutes left on the clock after falling behind by a single goal, it’s not like the Lightning didn’t have time to make something happen. They generated shot attempts and fired 15 shots at Crawford in the final frame. Their efforts went for naught, unfortunately, as the Hawks held on.
Equally as concerning as their inability to get a puck past Crawford in the third period for the second straight game was Coach Cooper’s decision making as the clock wound down. With six minutes left, and in desperate need of a goal, he sent Brenden Morrow out onto the ice. He kept rolling four lines, which meant sending out a player who probably should have retired two seasons ago for multiple shifts in the latter half of the third. There was no reason for it. There was no potential benefit. Morrow wasn’t what the Lightning needed at that point.
Then there was the Lightning’s 907th (sarcasm) ‘too many men’ penalty of the playoffs, taken with only nine seconds left in the game. Nine seconds isn’t a ton of time, but it’s still time. This team has taken way too many bench minors during the postseason. Doing it once is an oddity. Doing it twice is a coincidence. Doing it as many times as this group has speaks to something more.
And, finally, there was an element of controversy surrounding Hedman’s ice time. He played less than 24 minutes, while Andrej Sustr played north of 15. Cooper rode Hedman in the third period, but only sent him out for 6:48 in the second. With only a handful of games left in their season, now is the time for Tampa to be sending Hedman onto the ice whenever possible. The difference an extra couple of minutes makes isn’t big with a multi-month break coming up, but it could be huge on the ice. Hedman has the ability to create. He needs to be played a lot. The same goes for the team’s other top dogs; Ryan Callahan shouldn’t get more ice time in the third than Filppula and Alex Killorn. When the team needs a goal, the creators need to play. The team doesn't need the third line starting after a TV timeout.
Simply put, it wasn’t a banner night in terms of bench management. Thankfully, they’ll get a shot at redemption on Monday.
And Monday can’t come soon enough. The Cup will be in the building when the teams take to the ice at the UC. Chicago will have a chance to win it, while Tampa Bay will be looking to spoil the party. They’ve spoiled before, but this Blackhawks opponent is a different beast. We’ll have to wait to see what happens. Don't bother pretending that you absolutely know Chicago is going to win it all on Monday. They might, but this series has been too close to call from the start.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.