Lightning vs. Blackhawks
Corey Crawford’s shaky start is long forgotten as the veteran has been steady — and often spectacular — while helping the Hawks dispatch the Predators, Wild and Ducks. Crawford has been particularly brilliant in overtime, displaying the poise of a goalie who helped his team win a Stanley Cup in 2013. Calm and confident, Crawford is at the top of his game when it counts the most. Ben Bishop is big. Really big. At 6-foot-7, 209 pounds, the 28-year-old doesn’t leave much room for opponents to pick a spot to shoot. He also can handle the puck as evidenced by his three assists in the postseason. While Bishop has been excellent in the playoffs, it’s his first postseason and his nerves will be tested on the biggest stage. That could be a huge factor. Thanks in large part to coach Joel Quenneville putting Patrick Kane on the top line along with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad, the Hawks exploded for 15 goals over the last four games of the Western Conference finals. Throw in Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Shaw and the Hawks have the ability to put up some big numbers. An emerging Teuvo Teravainen and veteran Bryan Bickell need to create chances. The Lightning have a ton of talented forwards. While Steven Stamkos (43 regular-season goals) is the most dangerous, the “Triplets Line” of Tyler Johnson (league-leading 12 goals plus nine assists in the playoffs), Nikita Kucherov (nine, 10) and Ondrej Palat (seven, eight) has done the most damage. Alex Killorn and Valtteri Filppula are also part of a big and fast offense. The Hawks’ power play has been inconsistent all season, but Toews has been strong with the man advantage of late. A strong suit during the bulk of the regular season, the Hawks’ penalty kill continues to have its struggles in the playoffs. The Hawks rank 11th out of 16 teams with a 75.5 percent kill rate in the postseason. The Lightning’s firepower really shows while the team has the man advantage. The team is fourth on the power play during the playoffs at 22.2 percent. If Steven Stamkos gets any time and space, the center unleashes his rocket of a shot and the Lightning crash the net to clean up rebounds. Solid describes the Lightning’s penalty kill. It ranks eighth during the playoffs at 81.2 percent.