Blackhawks vs. Lightning: Schedule and Top Storylines for Stanley Cup Final 2015

The Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Anaheim Ducks in a dominant 5-3 decision on Saturday night, setting them up to meet the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final beginning on Wednesday, June 3. 

Both the Blackhawks and the Lightning took their championship series against the Ducks and New York Rangers, respectively, to Game 7, setting up what is sure to be a fast-paced and thrilling fight for the Cup in the coming weeks. 

Let's take a look at the schedule for the Stanley Cup Final and break down the three key storylines to follow in this series. 

Game	Date	Location	Time	TV Broadcast
Game 1	Wednesday, June 3	Tampa Bay	8 p.m. ET	NBC
Game 2	Saturday, June 6	Tampa Bay	7:15 p.m. ET	NBC
Game 3	Monday, June 8	Chicago	8 p.m. ET	NBCSN
Game 4	Wednesday, June 10	Chicago	8 p.m. ET	NBCSN
Game 5 (if necessary)	Saturday, June 13	Tampa Bay	8 p.m. ET	NBC
Game 6 (if necessary)	Monday, June 15	Chicago	8 p.m. ET	NBC
Game 7 (if necessary)	Wednesday, June 17	Tampa Bay	8 p.m. ET	NBC

Keys to the Series

Experience vs. Youth

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

This is the top storyline surrounding the Blackhawks-Lightning series, and while that might make it tired, it's no less important. This matchup is a classic example of the seasoned veterans who are used to playing on this stage in Chicago pitted against one of the league's best up-and-coming teams, an exciting blend of youth and skill, in Tampa Bay. 

Many of the Blackhawks veterans have been here before. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were all part of both the 2009-10 and 2012-13 teams that brought the Stanley Cup home to Chicago and established the Blackhawks as this decade's dynasty.  

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The Lightning, on the other hand, haven't advanced to a Stanley Cup Final since 2004, their first and only appearance in the Final until now. Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson were 14 years old. Nikita Kucherov was 10. 

It's been awhile since the Lightning have reached a stage this large, and most of the team's current stars were not yet even in the league in 2004. However, the size of the stage shouldn't prove to spook this team, which dispatched the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final and the Montreal Canadiens in the semifinals to get here. 

While it's hard to bet against Chicago, it's similarly unwise to count Tampa Bay out.

"It's going to be hard not to pick Chicago because of their experience but also very dangerous to overlook Tampa," an Eastern Conference head coach told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun. "I feel Tampa has a lot of firepower and Chicago will have to be good defensively."

A High-Scoring Affair

The 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs may have started out a bit slowly, but things really picked up in the conference finals with well-matched opponents in the Lightning and Rangers and the Blackhawks and Ducks. That will continue into the final, where both Chicago and Tampa Bay's scoring prowess should keep viewers' heads turning throughout the series. 

Stamkos had the league's second-highest number of goals during the regular season, with 43, and 72 points. Johnson had 29 goals, but his 43 assists gave him the same regular-season point total as Stamkos. 

Tampa Bay's Johnson was the scoring leader in the playoffs, with 12 goals and 21 points. However, five Lightning (Johnson, Kucherov, Stamkos, Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat) finished in the top 10 in scoring, as did two Blackhawks (Toews and Kane). 

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	Assists	Points
1	Tyler Johnson	TBL	12	9	21
2	Patrick Kane	CHI	10	10	20
3	Corey Perry	ANA	10	8	18
4	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	9	10	19
5	Jonathan Toews	CHI	9	9	18
6	Derick Brassard	NYR	9	7	16
7	Matt Beleskey	ANA	8	1	9
8	Steven Stamkos	TBL	7	10	17
9	Alex Killorn	TBL	7	9	16
10	Ondrej Palat	TBL	7	8	15

The Lightning's Triplets Line of Johnson, Palat and Kucherov could prove to be difficult for the Blackhawks, who will have to be on top of their game defensively, to slow down. The three combined for a whopping 28 goals in the postseason. 

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville knows that his team has to take the Lightning's scoring prowess seriously heading into the series. 

"Certainly, watching their series against the Rangers, they have a lot of options with their skill [and] how dangerous they can be with putting pucks in the net," Quenneville said Saturday, per Chris Kue of the Chicago Tribune. 

Of course, the Lightning will have to be just as vigilant. It's hard to count Toews and Kane out.

To the Bitter End: Expect a Long Series

Does talented, experienced Chicago have the skill to put these young Lightning to bed in four or five games? Most likely, yes. 

But Chicago has some depth concerns on its defense, and Tampa Bay's excellent role players could exploit that big-time. On offense alone, this could be a quick series. But the level of defense and goaltending to be expected by Corey Crawford and Ben Bishop, if they're at their best, could draw this serious out to seven glorious games. 

Goaltending will be potentially the biggest key of this series with both these teams boasting such high-octane scorers. 

"Chicago defense has the big edge if they can stay healthy. Key to Chicago offense is their defense," an Eastern Conference head coach told LeBrun.

That same coach predicted Chicago to take the series in five, maybe six games, but another league head coach, in the Western Conference, told LeBrun he thought Chicago would need seven games to pull it out.

If it does come to that point, Chicago may have an edge. The Blackhawks will end the series on the road if it reaches Game 7, but they proved in the playoffs that they can win on the road.  

For his part, LeBrun thinks Chicago is going to have to fight this out all the way to the bitter end: in seven games, in Tampa Bay, in triple overtime. 

"I am telling you, the Lightning will make this way harder on them than most people believe, and it would not shock me if Tampa won it," LeBrun wrote. 

There are more storylines bound to emerge from this compelling matchup, but these three will dominate the series through the end, whether that comes in Game 4 or Game 7.