Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Extend Series Lead In Game 4

The Tampa Bay Lightning will charge into the United Center in the hopes of extending their 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has a daunting task on their hands as they charge into the United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Right now momentum is on their side, but it is going to take focus and determination if the Lightning wants to extend their lead to 3-1 heading home.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has faced all manners of adversity this season; from injury concerns to deadline day shake ups, the Lightning have been through it all. The good news is that when all was said and done, the Tampa Bay Lightning has come out on top.

As we mentioned before, this is going to be no easy task for the Lightning. The Bolts have taken two games in a row from the Chicago Blackhawks, one of which was in front of their home town crowd. As you can imagine, something like this will not leave a very good taste in the mouths of the Blackhawks and their faithful.

This puts all of the pressure on the Blackhawks to bring home a win in Game 4, and we all know what happens when things are put under insane amounts of pressure; they explode. One would imagine that this will be exactly what the Blackhawks will be looking to do when they take the ice tonight.

The Tampa Bay Lightning put on a much better performance in Game 3 than they did in Game 2, but there are still a few minor details that need to be addressed if they want to ensure another victory in the Madhouse on Madison. Let’s take a look at some of our keys to a Tampa Bay Lightning victory tonight in Chicago.

Come Out Strong and Neutralize the Hawks’ Offense
Quicker Line Changes
Consistency Is Still Key
Stay Out of the Penalty Box
Get Inside The Blackhawks’ Heads

Now that we have everything laid out on the table, let’s take a quick look at each of these individually and see what will need to be done to capitalize on our opportunities and extend the Tampa Bay Lightning’s series lead.

Come Out Strong and Neutralize the Hawks’ Offense

Aside from consistency, this may be the most important of all the keys to victory. In Game 3, the Tampa Bay Lightning came out of the tunnel like a shot and seemed to be prepared to set the pace, but after the first goal was scored the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to fizzle out allowing the Hawks to outshoot them by 19-7.

While we would love to see the Tampa Bay Lightning come out like a shot in Game 4, they need to ensure that they set a pace that they can continue for the entire 60 minutes of the game. If they can do that, then they will be setting the stage for a successful night.

Unfortunately, for that successful night to come to pass there are a few more things they will need to accomplish. One of those things will be neutralizing the Blackhawks’ high-powered offense.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has been able to hold the Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane duo to just one point between them in the series. It has even gotten to the point that Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville has split them up in order to shake things up a bit.

The Lightning has the Blackhawks on the run at the moment, but it will only be a matter of time before they get a game plan together and come at the Bolts with everything they have. The Lightning need to be prepared and be ready to neutralize the threat before it becomes an issue.

Quicker Line Changes

This may not seem like one of the biggest issues in the world, but this is something that can be incredibly detrimental to the Tampa Bay Lightning if they aren’t careful.

If the Lightning continue to have trouble with their line changes they will not only have issues with tired players being stuck out on the ice, but they open themselves up to being called for Too Many Men on the Ice. This is something that has happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning not once, but twice already and as we know all too well, every penalty is an open door for the opposition; one they are likely to slam in our face.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning want to come out on top tonight, and we all know they do, they are going to have to work on making this a seamless transition and make it easier for the players to be focused and energized.

Consistency Is Still Key

As you can imagine, unless something drastic changes – which we hope it does – consistency will remain one of our most prominent keys to victory for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We mentioned earlier in the preview that the Tampa Bay Lightning had a much better performance in Game 3 than they did in Game 2. This is still very much the case, but as we also mentioned there were still a few loose ends that needed to be tied up.

The Tampa Bay Lightning came out strong, but after Ryan Callahan opened the scoring for the Lightning in the first five minutes of the game, everything seemed to take a step backwards as the Chicago Blackhawks had found a way to neutralize the Lightning’s offense.

The Tampa Bay Lightning need to come out strong like they did in Game 3, but they also need to ensure that they don’t take their feet off the gas for the remainder of the game. If you give a team like the Chicago Blackhawks even an inch, especially when they are down 2-1 in the series, they are going to take a mile and keep on rolling. This is something that simply cannot be allowed to happen.

Stay Out of the Penalty Box

The Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves bit in the behind once again in Game 3 Braydon Coburn was sent to the box for 2 minutes for Hooking Blackhawks left wing Brandon Saad, Hawks center Brad Richards would use the man-advantage to score his 3^rd goal of the post season.

Thankfully, this would be the only one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s three penalties of the night that would result in a Blackhawks goal. At the same time, we cannot continue to give a team like the Chicago Blackhawks the upper hand.

As we have said a million times before, they plenty of players with the ability to sink the puck in the back of the net, and with a team as hungry as the Hawks you will bet they will be looking to capitalize on every opportunity that comes their way.

We will once again concede that there are some penalties that cannot be avoided or that are attributed to the greater good, but those that aren’t and don’t need to be avoided at all costs if the Tampa Bay Lightning want to come back home to the Amalie Arena with a 3-1 series lead on Saturday night.

Get Inside The Blackhawks’ Heads

There is one sure fire way for the Tampa Bay Lightning to ensure a victory in Game 3, and it’s not so much the way that things play out on the ice, but the way they are able to get in the heads of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper has played his game brilliantly throughout this series by never letting the Blackhawks know what to expect on game day, shaking the lineups up, and making changes all the way up until puck drop.

Cooper has done his job, now it’s time for the rest of the team to do theirs. They need to hit the ice with purpose and determination and bring it to them hard in the first period. Just when they begin to believe they may have an advantage, we need to take it away from them.

Also, if we are able to effectively neutralize their top guys like Toews, Kane, and even players like defenseman Duncan Keith and rookie Teuvo Teravainen, the Chicago Blackhawks will be left scratching their heads as to what they will have to do in order to beat a team like the Chicago Blackhawks.

We all know that this team has the skill to get the job done and bring Lord Stanley’s Cup back to the Bolts Nation. More importantly, they have the drive, determination, and confidence to back all of that up. The Tampa Bay Lightning has played a well-fought series thus far and if they can find a way to tie up their loose ends, they will find themselves in a favorable position when they come home to Hockey Paradise on Saturday.

We are just a few hours away from puck drop now and the excitement is beginning to set in. The only question left is whether or not you are ready to show your Lightning pride and Be The Thunder as our Tampa Bay Lightning face off with the Chicago Blackhawks tonight? We know we here Bolts By The Bay are!

If you are still looking for a way to catch tonight’s Game 4 action, here is a quick look at all the information you’ll need to make sure you don’t miss a single second.

We leave with these three words: LET’S GO LIGHTNING!!

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