NHL Playoffs 2015: TV Schedule, Predictions for Red Wings vs. Lightning Game 7

The Tampa Bay Lightning lived to fight another day Monday in their first-round series with the Detroit Red Wings. A 5-2 win for Tampa Bay sets up a decisive Game 7 at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

The teams have exchanged victories throughout the series. Detroit went up 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before the Lightning eventually evened things up. Similarly, Tampa Bay was unable twice before to build any sort of momentum following its victories and grab control of the series.

Lightning vs. Red Wings has been one of the best matchups of the first round, and its conclusion will undoubtedly provide plenty of excitement.

Here's a look at the schedule for Wednesday's game:

Time (ET)	Away	Home	TV Info	Live Stream
7:30 p.m.	Detroit Red Wings	Tampa Bay Lightning	NBCSN	NBC Sports Live Extra

With Game 7 in Tampa, some might figure that the Lightning will immediately begin the game from a position of strength. However, Detroit won Games 1 and 5 on the road, including a 4-0 victory last Saturday. The idea of home-ice advantage isn't completely dead, but with arenas becoming increasingly more homogenized, the impact isn't as great as it was decades ago.

Surely at the top of the Red Wings' Game 7 to-do list will be stopping Tyler Johnson. The 24-year-old has scored six goals in the series so far. According to ESPN Stats & Info, he's the first Lightning player to have two or more goals in three games of a postseason series:

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman compared Johnson's goal-scoring through the first six games to the rest of Tampa Bay:

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Detroit has won the three games in which Johnson failed to record a point. Take him out of the game, and the Lightning are fighting an uphill battle.

In addition to Johnson's play, another story to watch will be the physicality of Detroit. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper wasn't shy about calling out what he felt was obvious gamesmanship from the Red Wings, per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times:

Cooper almost certainly wasn't happy with the vicious hit on Nikita Kucherov by Niklas Kronwall.

Yahoo Sports' Nick Cotsonika wonders if Kronwall could get some sort of retrospective punishment for the check:

Losing Kronwall would be a significant blow to Detroit's blue line. According to NHL.com, he led the team in blocked shots and spent more time on the ice than any other Red Wing player during the regular season.

A big thing for Detroit will be getting out to a strong start in the first period. In the Red Wings' three wins, they outscored the Lightning 3-1 after the first frame. In Tampa Bay's three wins, the Red Wings failed to score a single goal, getting outscored 3-0.

It's a bit tough forecasting the game before the NHL rules one way or the other on Kronwall's status but for now, we'll assume he plays Wednesday.

With Kronwall, the Red Wings will take Game 7 by the slimmest of margins. Mike Babcock will make the necessary adjustments following Detroit's Game 6 loss, and if the Red Wings continue testing Ben Bishop, the Lightning will have some major issues between the pipes.

Prediction: Red Wings win 3-2 (OT)