A Conversation Charged with Lightning

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals ended with the Chicago Blackhawks beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 at Amelie Arena on Saturday night.  The win has propelled the Blackhawks to a 3-2 series lead and has put the Lightning on the ledge with a chance tonight to get nudged off by Chicago.

Before the puck drops at 8 pm on NBC, take a listen to the latest installment of the Monday Morning Conversation on Total Sports Live.  I had the opportunity to speak with Cassie McClellan of Raw Charge — the SB Nation Tampa Bay Lightning community.  She and I take a look at the Lightning and how they have impressed people with their resilience in this series against the Blackhawks.  McClellan also dives into the thought process of head coach Jon Cooper in relation to why they’ve been so good with their back against the wall.

McClellan discusses the state of the team going forward with one member of the “Triplets Line” — Nikita Kucherov — potentially being out for Game 6 after crashing into the net in Game 5.  Will things get moved around?  Will superstar Steven Stamkos finally fill his stat line with something other than donuts in the point columns as he has not registered a single point this Stanley Cup Finals for the Lightning.  McClellan dives into the little bitty secret that the Tampa Bay Lightning have been hiding from all of us — defenseman Victor Hedman, who is having a fantastic series keeping one of Chicago’s superstar forwards, Patrick Kane, in check.

All of that gets discussed, and McClellan even gives us Flyers fans a little reassurance of the status of Radko Gudas — who is currently rehabbing in the Tampa Bay area — and placates my disapproval that we’re potentially two games away from former Flyers defenseman Brayden Coburn hoisting the Stanley Cup in a Lightning jersey.  (I’m just going to let that sit and marinate for a second while you folks come to grips with that.)

Now that you have accepted that possibility, enjoy the podcast!

(While listening to this podcast, check out this interesting piece by Kyle Alexander — also of Raw Charge.  It would seem that the Lightning are running into a hot Blackhawks goalie in Corey Crawford.  If you watched Game 5, you’re probably thinking that, too, but hey, if the Lightning can handle the mis-proclaimed “King Henriq”, then I’m sure they can solve Crawford tonight in Game 6.)

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