As much as I complain about the state of the youth in today’s culture (and I do very frequently), I have to say that the Tampa Bay Lightning — the youngest team by average age in this year’s NHL Playoffs — are holding their own so far in two games against the old guard Chicago Blackhawks.
The Lightning suffered a pretty devastating loss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals last Wednesday , losing 2-1 at home after capturing the early 1-0 lead. They’re young, nervous, and vastly inferior in terms of experience compared to the Blackhawks who are very playoff tenderized. Game 2 had all the makings of a Chicago domination, and a blistering opening to the second period where the Blackhawks lit the lamp twice in the second period within the first six minutes — capped by an absolute snipe shot from Teuvo Teräväinen on the power play — could have sealed it early.
Tampa Bay stayed with the Blackhawks, however. They got two of their own thanks to Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kutcherov to take a 3-2 lead only to cough it up again on a howitzer in the slot from Brent Seabrook. Again, the Lightning stayed with it. One power play goal from Jason Garrison later and the Florida youngsters held on for the remainder of the period to put us where we are right now: series tied 1-1 going to Chicago.
Credit the Tampa Bay Lightning win however you like — either Tampa’s unexpected resiliency or Blackhawks’ goalie Corey Crawford’s unexplained shakiness. They needed that win. When you’re a young, inexperienced team like the Lightning facing a battle tested Chicago team, you have to know that you can hang under not so perfect circumstances. After conceding two goals to lose Game 1, Tampa couldn’t let that happen again. If they did, this series would be 2-0 and virtually over.
Now, we may actually have a series. I’m personally backing off my “Blackhawks in five” prediction that I made when this series started. This thing is going to go deep — at least six. If the hockey gods are smiling on us all, this will go to an overtime of Game 7 — not too much overtime, though because I’ve lost A LOT of sleep as a result of these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The young Tampa Bay Lightning are flying into Chicago for Game 3 with confidence. They know they can beat Chicago even if pucks don’t bounce their way. Those youngsters needed to know that. Does that mean they’ll win tonight? Perhaps. Goalie Ben Bishop hasn’t been tapped as the starter, and there’s been speculation as to why he was pulled in Game 2. Was he injured, or did he have to drop a deuce during the third period? Lightning coach Jon Cooper has said he’s confident in either Bishop or Andrei Vasilevskiy who got the win after making five saves on five shots in relief.
Making Vasilevskiy the starter for the first time in a Stanley Cup Final wouldn’t exactly be the wisest of choices considering where the game is being played, but if coach is confident, who am I to argue, right?
What’s going to be hard to argue is whether or not the Tampa Bay Lightning can continue to strike without getting much from their superstar, Steven Stamkos. In two Stanley Cup Final games, Stamkos has zero points despite being on the ice for over 35 minutes. Granted, Stamkos doesn’t necessarily have to score to make an impact because his presence on the ice is enough, but you have to wonder when Stamkos is going to light the lamp — or at least assist on someone else doing it.
Maybe it’s good that they aren’t relying solely on Stamkos similar to how the Washington Capitols (for example) rely solely on Alexander Ovechkin. There’s a reason why the Lightning are here and the Capitols are not, I suppose. Sooner or later, the Blackhawks are going to surrender the “three point Stamkos game”. It may come sooner if Crawford continues to look shaky. Once that happens, you’ll see Tampa Bay in all its glory. This series has many marketable stars in Stamkos, Ryan Callahan, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews.
Keep that Red Bull on hand because this series is going to go longer than people expected.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight at 8pm EST on NBCSN.
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