After three grueling rounds, two teams are left standing as the Tampa Bay Lightning remain in the Eastern Conference and the Chicago Blackhawks survived the Western Conference. The puck is set to drop on these teams in the Stanley Cup Final starting Wednesday at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.
The Blackhawks knocked out the Nashville Predators in six games in the opening round, swept away the Minnesota Wild in Round 2 and then sent the Anaheim Ducks packing by giving them a rare home defeat in Game 7 to get to the Cup final.
The Lightning also enjoyed a crazy road to get here, knocking off the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round in seven games, topping the Montreal Canadiens in six contests in Round 2 and then ousting the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in seven games to advance to the Cup final.
Heading into this best-of-seven match for the greatest trophy in sports, here are five storylines to keep an eye on.
1) A Dynasty In The Making?: The Blackhawks are looking to become the closest thing the NHL has had to a dynasty in years by winning their third Stanley Cup in six campaigns. Chicago dropped the Philadelphia Flyers in six games to win it all for the first time since 1961 in 2010 and followed it up with another six-match championship win, this time at the expense of the Boston Bruins in 2013 to hoist another Cup. The Lightning, meanwhile, is only in its second Stanley Cup Final ever. Tampa Bay took out the Calgary Flames in seven games in their only prior trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004. After 11 years, the Lightning is back in the final and looking to make an impact while the Blackhawks look to continue their tremendous legacy.
2) Home, Sweet Home or Road Warriors?: The Lightning finished with 108 points in the regular season while the Blackhawks closed out 2014-15 with 102, giving Tampa Bay home-ice advantage in the series. The Lightning won an NHL-best 32 games at home this season and just 18 on the road while the Blackhawks won 24 games both at home and on the road. In the postseason, however, Tampa Bay has a better road record (7-3) than home (5-5) while Chicago has dominated at home (7-1) and has an inconsistent road mark away from the United Center (5-4). It's worth noting the Lightning blanked the Rangers twice on the road in Games 5 and 7 and the Blackhawks handed the Ducks their only two home losses of the postseason in Games 2 and 7.
3) The Youth vs. The Experienced: The Lightning's young guns have led them into this series with a potent, dangerous offense. Tyler Johnson, 24, has an NHL playoffs-best 12 goals and 21 points while his linemates Nikita Kucherov, 21, (9-10--19) and Ondrej Palat, 21, (7-8--15) join him on the force known as the Triplets Line for Tampa Bay. Steven Stamkos, 25, is also a huge threat for the speedy Lightning as he is third on the team with 17 points and has exploded for seven goals after a slow start to the postseason. All four are in their first Stanley Cup Final.
The Blackhawks 1-2 punch of Jonathan Toews, 27, and Patrick Kane, 26, aren't old by any stretch, but they have a wealth of experience and bring a championship pedigree into the series. Kane leads the team with 10 goals and 20 points in the playoffs while Toews is second with nine tallies and 18 points. Toews is 38-61--99 in 111 postseason games while Kane is 47-64--111 in 110 career playoff matches and the duo was a huge part of the Blackhawks' two prior Stanley Cups. It's worth noting that Brad Richards, fresh off of improving to 8-0 all-time in Game 7s against Anaheim, will play his old team as he searches for his first Cup since winning it all with the Lightning in 2004 and taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy. Richards is in the final round for the second straight season after getting here last year with the Rangers.
4) Battle of the Blue Line: The Blackhawks defense has been heavily taxed due to injuries providing a lack of depth in the playoffs, but it hasn't wavered. Leading the charge is Duncan Keith -- who along with Toews and Kane is part of those championship clubs. Keith leads both teams with 31:35 average time on ice and paces all players with a plus-13 rating in the playoffs. Keith is also first on the Blackhawks with 16 assists and leads all blue-liners on the team with 18 points. Though he has at times been split from his long-time defensive partner Brent Seabrook, he hasn't faltered. Seabrook, another huge cog to the recent success in Chicago, leads all defenseman on the club with six goals. Nicklas Hjalmarsson (26:33) and Johnny Oduya (25:23) have also logged heavy minutes and played a big role.
The Lightning's defense runs through its top pairing of Victor Hedman (team-best 23:24 average time on ice) and Anton Stralman (22:13). Hedman has 10 points off of a goal and nine assists to go along with a plus-11 rating while Stralman has a marker and six helpers for seven points and is a plus-2. The duo not only contributes offensively, but has been able to lead the charge in shutting down teams throughout the playoffs.
5) Collision in the Crease: Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford already won a Stanley Cup in 2013 as he prepares for his second appearance in the Stanley Cup Final while Ben Bishop has impressed throughout his first career postseason appearance and is four wins away from hoisting the trophy in his first try.
Crawford lost his job in Round 1, but quickly rebounded and found his form along the way to lift the Blackhawks back to the Cup Final for the third time in six years. Crawford, 30, is 9-4 in the playoffs with a 2.56 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.
The 6-foot-7 Bishop, 28, is 12-8 this spring with a 2.15 GAA, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts -- two of which came in Game 7s in these playoffs. Bishop has had his incosistencies, yielding five goals in three of his team's seven games with the Rangers, but he's also showed flashes of brilliance.
The NHL is down to two teams, but only one can win it all when the lights come up at the Amalie Arena for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final live from Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
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