The Chicago Blackhawks will play the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Stanley Cup, starting on Wednesday in Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, to advance to the finals for the chance to win their 3rd title since 2010. Tampa Bay also needed 7 games, to dispense of the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals, with a 2-0 win in Game 7. Both conference finals went the full 7 games for the first time since 2000.
Chicago overcame a 3-2 series deficit to Anaheim, by winning Game 6 at home, before their Game 7 win on Saturday night. Their captain Jonathan Toews took command of Game 7 with an early goal in the 1st period, then added another before the period was over. The Blackhawks pushed the lead to 4-0 on a bogus goal, that was kicked in by Marian Hossa. The referees let it count, thereby making the mountain too high for the Ducks to climb.
Although I’m biased, because I’m a Ducks fan, I’m certainly not as biased as the referees were in this series. Chicago frequently hit Ducks players in the face with their sticks and were not called for penalties. In Game 7, Anaheim’s Nate Thompson was bleeding from the mouth from one of these incidents, which should have been an automatic double minor, but of course no penalty was called. The Blackhawks would dive on the ice to take penalties, and it usually worked to their advantage. They may have won the series anyway, but it would have been nice to see the Ducks only have to defeat the Blackhawks and not the refs too.
In the east, after the 7-3 beatdown administered to the Tampa Bay Lightning at home in Game 6, the New York Rangers were the heavy favorite to win Game 7 and the series at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, and for good reason. The Rangers hadn’t lost a Game 7 at home, in any series, or when facing elimination since Henrik Lundqvist has been their goalie since 2005.
But all that came to end with the Lightning’s 2-0 victory in Game 7. Tampa Bay did have some statistics on their side too, mainly from this postseason. The Lightning are now 9-0 in the 2015 playoffs when they score first. Their goalie, Ben Bishop, shut out the Rangers in consecutive road games in this series, and extended his scoreless streak against them in New York to an amazing 145 minutes and 43 seconds.
Bishop was the first goalie in NHL history to record 2 shutouts as well as having 3 games giving up at least 5 games in the same playoff series. This wild sway in productivity however worked out for the Lightning. They are now seeking their first Stanley Cup Championship since 2004, the only other time they were in the finals. The Rangers haven’t won the Cup since 1994.
Tampa Bay will now face the Chicago Blackhawks for the title. The Lightning were 1-0-1 against the Blackhawks in the regular season, winning 4-0, and losing in a shootout. I picked the Lightning to face the Ducks in the Stanley Cup Finals, and I will stick with Tampa Bay to win the Cup. The series will go the 7 games.
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