A win for the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight would put them one victory away from being the 2015 Stanley Cup champions. The trouble, however, is that the same is true for the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the nature of a pivotal and defining fifth game in a series tied at two. One team will head back to Chicago with a chance to win it all, while the other will find itself in a win-or-go-home situation.
At this stage of the game, it’s really quite difficult to make a prediction for tonight’s contest. The teams split at Amalie Arena to start the series, and split at the United Center in games three and four. And it’s not like one team has blown the other out of the water, either; the games have all been close.
But, on the whole, people seem to agree that the Lightning have been slightly better through four games. Does that trend continue now, even after a very disappointing fourth game loss? Or do the Blackhawks show up late in a series and assert their dominance like they’ve done so many times in the past? Again, making a prediction seems like a useless exercise.
That doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about, though, as the big story heading into this game is the Lightning’s goaltending situation. Ben Bishop, who left game three and did not play in game four because of injury, took the morning skate today. Jon Cooper did not announce a starter, so going to Andrei Vasilevskiy could still be a possibility. Vasilevskiy performed admirably in his first Stanley Cup Final start, and did more than enough to give his team a chance to win. The Bolts shouldn’t have any problem if they have to turn to him in net. Plus, quite frankly, Vasilevskiy at 100% is probably better than Bishop at X%.
In addition to the goaltending question, there’s an element of uncertainty about what Cooper will do with the rest of his lineup. This morning’s skate was an optional one, so it’s tough to get a read on any potential line combinations. With that being said, it’s hard to imagine that the coaching staff will move too far away from what’s been successful for them.
Joel Quenneville’s Blackhawks, for their part, are expected to go with the same lineup that won them game four. Of course, this is the playoffs… The point is that we’ll have to wait and see what both coaches do. This time of year is a blogger’s nightmare in that sense!
In closing, what I’m most interested to see in this game is how the teams respond to what happened in game four. It’s fair to say that both groups looked… tired. There just wasn’t a whole lot of energy, as Chicago’s defense (hampered by a reportedly injured Johnny Oduya and sick Brent Seabrook) slowed to a crawl and Tampa’s forwards (struggling with injuries of their own) lacked their usual spark. With an extra day of rest leading up to tonight’s game, perhaps this contest will bring the return of the fast-paced style that was absent for the first two periods in game four.
Time to catch a flight. 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.