Lightning vs. Blackhawks: Preview, Prediction for Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final

We're two games into the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, and nobody should be disappointed with what we've seen so far.

Despite no goals from most of the series' biggest stars, including Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Victor Hedman and Duncan Keith, there has been plenty of offense from secondary sources and enough from the men between the pipes to keep things very interesting.

The Lightning carried the lead for much of Game 1 but saw victory snatched away late on. In Game 2, Tampa snagged an evenly matched contest to tie things up.

Things shift to Chicago for a pair of matchups, starting with Monday's Game 3. The Lightning are hoping for at least another split, but the Blackhawks are looking to take a stranglehold with a couple of victories.

Lightning's Top Storylines

Who Starts in Goal?

The musical goalies from Game 2 have led to a lot of speculation on Ben Bishop's health. The rumors range from humorous speculation from a fellow goalie (Roberto Luongo) of a bout with stomach troubles to an injury of some sort that may or may not keep him from playing in Game 3.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper avoided answering questions about his starter Sunday, instead asking reporters what former Bolts coach John Tortorella would say.

Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy, a 20-year-old who earned a 4-3 win in relief by making five saves in Game 2 while Bishop was out, has the team's confidence if he gets the start. Hedman told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times as much:

"

We feel very safe with Vasilevskiy in the net, if that’s going to be the case. He’s proven at every level that he’s a winner, and he’s one of the best goalie prospects in a lot of years. And we’ve seen him battle throughout games this year. We’ll see what happens, but we have two great goaltenders that can win games for us.

"

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Triplets Are Rolling Again

The Lightning tend to be as good as their best line, the Triplets—Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. The trio contributed the second and third Bolts goals in Game 2 to give the team the lead after the Blackhawks scored a couple of quick goals to erase a one-goal deficit.

The three-point outing was a nice bounce back from the series opener, in which they were shut out and combined for two shots and a minus-2 rating.

It's not that the line was quiet for long, given that it combined for a goal, four points, a plus-1 rating and eight shots in the last two games of the Eastern Conference Final, but folks can be fickle.

Cooper was defensive talking about the line being shut down in the opening game of the Cup Final, as reported by Corey Long of NHL.com

"

They've been outstanding from start to finish. I don't think that everybody should be judged on your point totals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but [Johnson's] leading the League or darn close in scoring in the playoffs. You can't score every single night. It's really hard, unless your name's Gretzky.

"

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Can They Stop the Hawks' Scoring Spurts?

If there's a disturbing trend surrounding Tampa's defensive game, it's that the team allowed the Blackhawks to score back-to-back goals in short spans in both Games 1 and 2. In the opener, it was a pair in the third period in less than two minutes that led to the loss. In Game 2, the Hawks scored twice in 2:16 early in the second period to put the Bolts down by one.

The Hawks stole Game 1 as a result of those goals, but the Lightning may have learned from it in Game 2. Their response was much better, as they scored one of their own just 1:32 later to tie things up. Cooper noted the difference, via a tweet from Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

The response in the second game was progress. In the third, they'll need to try to avoid having anything like that to respond to.

Blackhawks' Top Storylines

Splitsville for Toews and Kane

It looks like Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville is going to scramble his lines again after putting his top two eggs in the same basket late in the Western Conference Final and in the first game of the Cup Final.

Despite coming into the series with 10 goals and 20 points in 17 games in these playoffs, Kane hasn't tallied a point so far in the Cup Final. In Game 2, Tampa held him without a shot on goal for just the second time in 112 career playoff games, snapping a streak of 99 outings with at least one shot making it through to the netminder.

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Toews hasn't fared much better offensively, with one assist in the second game and four shots on goal over the two combined.

Quenneville told reporters, via Tracey Myers of CSNChicago.com, the idea of separating them might offer more of a challenge for Lightning checkers.

“Certainly, I think splitting those two up gives you a little bit more freedom as far as whether it’s room or something for them to be concerned with,” Quenneville said. “I think a little bit more balance to our offense is why we usually keep them apart. We’ll see how that progresses.”

Duncan Keith Isn't Their Only Amazing D-Man

As impressive as Keith has been throughout these playoffs, the Blackhawks should consider themselves lucky to have a second star blueliner in Brent Seabrook. He may get Keith-type money when his contract expires next summer, barring an extension from the Hawks after July 1 this year.

With his game-tying goal in the third period of Game 2, the seventh of his 2015 playoffs, Seabrook passed Hall of Famer Chris Chelios for the franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a single playoff season.

He also joined Doug Wilson and Bob Murray with the most playoff goals by a Blackhawks defenseman with his 19th.

Seabrook, however, was his cliched best after the game when chatting with reporters, per Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune: "I'm not here to make personal gains. We're here to win a Stanley Cup. That's what our team's focused on."

Can Crawford Shut the Door?

When the Blackhawks lose, the Corey Crawford bashers usually come out ready to burn him at the stake. It's so common that it compelled B/R colleague Adrian Dater to defend him. But Crawford did allow at least one bad goal and wasn't shying away from any blame after the contest.

"It's frustrating. I felt good, but it's not good enough," Crawford told reporters, via Corey Masisak of NHL.com. He continued:

"

Especially when we get momentum, we score a big goal on the power play [to go up 2-1], and they come back with those two. We showed character again, we almost came back, we tied it. Tough bounce on their power-play goal, but it was close. We came back, it was close. I can't let that happen again.

"

Even his coach said Crawford was, "Just OK," per Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo.com.

All that matters is whether he bounces back for Game 3, which his teammates expect will happen, as relayed by Sportsnet.

Prediction

Quenneville will get the matchups he wants at home, and both Toews and Kane will have an impact while on separate lines. An empty-netter will seal the deal in this one at the United Center.

Blackhawks 4, Lightning 2

All statistics via NHL.com

Steve Macfarlane has covered the NHL for more than a decade, including seven seasons following the Calgary Flames for the Calgary Sun. Follow him on Twitter at @macfarlaneHKY.