Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Come Out Strong In Game 1

The Tampa Bay Lightning are prepared to come out strong and start off the Stanley Cup Finals on the right track against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has worked hard all season long to prove to the National Hockey League and fans all around the world that they are ready to become one of the top teams in the league. As we sit here on the eve of the start of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning are well on their way to proving their point.

Tomorrow night, the Tampa Bay Lightning will take the ice at the Amalie Arena in sunny Tampa, Florida to face off with one of the most dominant teams in the National Hockey League, the Chicago Blackhawks. If the Tampa Bay Lightning has their way, they will be able to kick off this series on the right skate and set the tone.

If they are to be successful in their charge there are a few things that they are going to have to accomplish. While none of these things are among the impossible, it is going to require a great deal of focus and an inextinguishable fire in their souls for them to achieve.

The good news is, the things that Lightning has the most of are heat and intensity.

While we all sit on the edge of our seats and anxiously await the first puck to drop, let’s take a look at the keys for a Tampa Bay Lightning victory tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Come Out Strong and Set the Tone Early
Stay Out of the Penalty Box
Neutralize the Toews/Kane Combo
Dig for Rebounds and Blitz Corey Crawford
Be Consistent and Don’t Back Down

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these individually and see what the Lightning will need to do in order to start out the Stanley Cup Finals on top.

Come Out Strong and Set the Tone Early

If the Tampa Bay Lightning wants to come out on top tomorrow night against the Blackhawks, it is going to be vital that the Tampa Bay Lightning come out of the tunnel with the same intensity that they showed in Games 5 and 7 against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Much like the Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks have a high-powered offense that is no stranger to sinking the puck into the back of the net past any of the National Hockey League’s top goaltenders. It is going to be imperative that the Lightning take a stand early in the game and set the tone for all 60 minutes.

We all know how strong the Tampa Bay Lightning is when they strike first blood. In the post season, the Tampa Bay Lightning has gone 9-0 in games where they score first. Unfortunately, stats and numbers can only take you so far. If you want to keep those stats the way they are, you’ll have to fight each and every night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has plenty of players who can make a difference in setting the tone; whether it is the scoring prowess of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat or the newly found groove of Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. Every single player, from the top to the bottom needs to be on the top of their game.

Stay Out of the Penalty Box

This is a topic that is not only relatively self-explanatory, but has seemingly been the bane of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s existence all season long. We have spoken at length about the difference between necessary and unnecessary penalties and the importance of staying out of the box, but it really makes no difference unless the Bolts can play it out on the ice.

Yes, there is always going to be a situation that simply cannot be avoided. At the same time, we have said a million and one times that a team can only invite the opposition in the door so many times before they are eventually going to accept the invitation and slam the door behind them.

This is something the Lightning can ill afford.

The Chicago Blackhawks do not have the most dangerous Power Play Squad in the league, having come in a 19.6% during the post season, but when given the right circumstance a team can turn those numbers around and leave a team scratching their heads as to where their lead went.

Neutralize the Toews/Kane Combo

We here in the Bolts Nation have heard all about the chemistry between the Triplets this season and how they seem to be in each other’s heads when they are on the ice. The same thing can be said about Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and right wing Patrick Kane.

Patrick Kane currently leads the Blackhawks with 10 goals and 10 assists for a total of 20 points. Three of Kane’s 10 assists came in the Blackhawks final matchup with the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Blackhawks captain is not far behind with 9 goals and 9 assists for a total of 18 points. This puts Toews in a tie for second place on the team in points with defenseman Duncan Keith. Speaking of Keith, he is another one that the Lightning is going to want to neutralize on Wednesday night.

When a team has a defenseman in second place on the team in points, you know you have something special.

Lightning defensemen like Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, and Nikita Nesterov (who unbeknownst to NBC Sports is actually not Nikita Kucherov) will have to step up their game a notch and really put the pressure on the Blackhawks offense and not allow them free range in the neutral and Lightning zones.

This may be a difficult task ahead of them, but it is far from an impossible one. All they need to do is focus on the task at hand and do what they have done for a good portion of the regular and post season, win games.

Dig For Rebounds and Blitz Corey Crawford

There is no denying that Corey Crawford is a solid goaltender who is skilled in the art of keeping the opposing offense on their toes while keeping the puck out of the back of the net. At the same time, the Tampa Bay Lightning has done a fairly good job so far this season of putting down talented goaltenders.

Just ask Petr Mrazek, Carey Price, and Henrik Lundqvist. All three of them are incredibly talented goaltenders, yet all three of them have ultimately failed when coming up against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning is going to come out on top against a goaltender like Corey Crawford, they are going to have to set themselves up in front of the net and dig for each and every rebound opportunity that comes their way.

As we have said many times before, even the most talented netminders in the league cannot be everywhere at once. This brings us to another related topic, the Lightning are going to have to find ways to shoot in different places on Crawford. When you continually aim for places like the five-hole or the glove side, the goaltender will eventually have your number and have no issues keeping you out of the net.

Be Consistent and Don’t Back Down

This is by far one of the most important keys to a Tampa Bay Lightning victory in Game 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks. In addition to setting the tone early and striving for that ever-so-important first blood, the Lightning are going to have to be consistent for all 60 minutes and never back down from the Blackhawks.

There has been plenty of occasions this season where the Tampa Bay Lightning has come out of the tunnel like a shot, but as the periods wore on, they seemed to back down and settle into a lead. This is not something you can do against a team like the Blackhawks if you want to come out on top.

At the same time, the Lightning can ill-afford to allow the Blackhawks to set the tone in the first period. This will result in the Lightning chasing their tails in the second and third period. While the Bolts have been a successful third period team in the past, one little mistake in the post season can mean life or death for your Cup dreams.

Once the proper pressure has been applied, it is vital that the Tampa Bay Lightning set a tone that they can continue for the entirety of the game. If they can accomplish this, it will be the Chicago Blackhawks who will be chasing their tails trying to come out on top.

There is no denying that this is going to be an exciting series on both sides of the ice. The Chicago Blackhawks have a legacy to uphold when it comes to the Stanley Cup, but the young Tampa Bay Lightning is ready to prove that their time is now and they are ready to be the champions we always knew they could be.

The one thing we know for sure is that whether you bleed blue for the Tampa Bay Lightning or stand tall in Blackhawks red, you are not going to want to miss a single second of the action as the Stanley Cup Finals kick into gear tomorrow night at the Amalie Arena.

The only question we have left for those of you here in the Bolts Nation is are you ready to Be The Thunder tomorrow night and show the Chicago Blackhawks that we are ready for them? We know we are!

Next: BBTB Round Table: Highs and Lows of the Eastern Conference Finals