The Tampa Bay Lightning worked hard all season to secure home-ice advantage in Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That hard work means that tonight’s Game Seven between them and the Detroit Red Wings will be played at Amalie Arena, the place in which Tampa lost only nine games all season. A win pushes the Bolts to the second round for a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens; a loss sends them home for good. Everything is on the line this evening.
Commentators often remark that anything can happen in Game Seven situations, and that couldn’t be truer in this instance. Neither team in this series has won consecutive games, so it’s quite hard to get a gauge of where the groups are at heading into this pivotal contest. On the one hand, Tampa has to be happy with the way it took control of Game Six; on the other hand, there are some concerns surrounding goaltender Ben Bishop and the team’s performance on home ice so far in this series. Indeed, anything can happen.
If the Wings are going to steal a third win at Amalie in this series, they’ll have to do it without Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall was suspended by the Department of Player Safety for his elbow to the head of Nikita Kucherov in Game Six. The hit elicited a mass response from around the hockey world, with strong opinions on both sides. Obviously I’m biased, but I do believe that the Department of Player Safety got it right on this occasion. Kronwall isn’t an inherently dirty player, but he crossed the line on Monday night.
The question now is whether or not Tampa can capitalize on a Detroit defense that will be missing one of its most integral pieces. Through six games of this playoff series, Kronwall has played an average of nearly three minutes more per game than the next closest Red Wing. His suspension forces Mike Babcock to deal with a big hole in the lineup.
On the other side of things, it’s hard to imagine that Jon Cooper will change his lineup. The unit was successful in Game Six, thanks in large part to a stellar performance from Tyler Johnson. Johnson, the undrafted forward, has scored six goals through six games in the series. To say that he’s done his part would be to understate things in a criminal way. Still, Cooper could make changes before puck drop tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.
With all that said, Detroit probably doesn’t feel too bad about its chances heading into this game. As hinted at above, Detroit has had success at Amalie already in this series. They stole Game One, hung around in Game Two, and controlled Game Five. Not many teams had success at Amalie Arena in the regular season like Detroit has in this series. Do you bet on that trend continuing, or do you bet on Tampa’s home-ice winning percentage reverting to its mean? It’s a tough call.
At the end of the day, there’s just not much to say in advance of a Game Seven. I'll let the coach sum up:
Cooper on Game 7: Seize the moment, but make sure you're having fun. This is a really, really exciting time. Doesn't come around that often
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) April 28, 2015As 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.