Lightning Star Steven Stamkos Deserves a Little More Faith from Coach Jon Cooper

If Tyler Johnson is as hobbled by injury as some—such as Bleacher Report's Jonathan Willis—think, and Ben Bishop is too hobbled to suit up in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, then the pressure on Steven Stamkos just became a hundred times greater.

Which is what Stamkos should welcome if he is to accomplish his most fervent of hockey dreams.

If the great ones always wanted the ball in their hands or the puck on their stick in the most important times, then the 25-year-old Lightning captain should want the puck on every shift he takes in what will be the biggest game of his career on Saturday at Amalie Arena.

Even if Johnson and Bishop were 100 percent physically, the player with the most to prove in Game 5 would be Stamkos, whose inconsistent play has been the one nagging aspect of Tampa Bay's otherwise tremendous playoff run.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Here's the question, though: Does his coach, Jon Cooper, truly believe in Stamkos? If he does, Cooper needs to prove it by giving his captain more ice time in these last few games of the Final.

Here's what Cooper told reporters from the podium after Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Chicago in Game 4, which Stamkos nearly tied with time running out in the third period only have this shot deflected away by the heel of Brent Seabrook's stick: "What I like to see from Stammer is he got his looks, they just didn't go in for him. Hopefully in Game 5 you sit here saying, Stammer has a couple under his belt. I just like the fact he's getting himself in the position to score. They just didn't go in tonight."

If Cooper believes Stamkos might get a couple under his belt Saturday, it behooves him to give his captain a better chance to do so.

That means upping the ice time of the player many consider the best pure goal scorer in the league.

After a Game 1 in which Stamkos played only 17 minutes and 17 seconds in a 2-1 loss—and not at all in the final 38 seconds that started with a faceoff and Bishop off for the extra skater—Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons rightly pointed out the flaws in Cooper's decision-making:

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Needing a goal to send Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to overtime, the Tampa Bay Lightning left the sport’s second most prolific scorer on the bench, coach Jon Cooper making a mostly odd decision. He stayed with Ryan Callahan as his extra forward, with the goalie out. He never called for Stamkos.

He made a conscious decision to stay with Callahan, with one goal in the playoffs, while his hottest scorer, shooter Stamkos, parked his six-goals-in-10-games butt on the pine.

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Stamkos' ice time increased after Game 1 to 18:46, 21:54 and 20:40 in Games 2 through 4, respectively. To be fair to Cooper, Stamkos did receive the most ice time of any Lightning forward in Games 3 and 4.

But it's still not enough.

Cooper must discontinue his preferred mindset of rolling four lines—or at least the first three—with fairly equal distribution and put more of his eggs in Stamkos' basket for this best two-of-three showdown. Is there any doubt that Stamkos could handle a game of, say, 25 or 26 minutes?

That's stupid. Why should Cooper deviate from what has gotten him this far? Shortening his bench would be a panic move.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

That criticism would be fair if this were the same Lightning team as before. But it isn't.

Johnson is clearly hurt, possibly with some kind of hand injury, as evidenced by his not taking faceoffs anymore after a regular season in which he took 1,103.

Then there's the hugely worrisome goaltending situation. No one knows if Bishop will be able to go for Game 5 due to an undisclosed lower-body injury, and while 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy made some nice saves in Game 4, the fact is he still lost despite his defense limiting Chicago to just 19 shots.

Bishop isn't just the No. 1 goalie—he's a team leader.

Following Game 4's loss that knotted the series at 2-2, Cooper told reporters that Bishop will play again in the Final but couldn't specify when.

With the NHL's leading goal and points scorer in the playoffs (Johnson, 13 goals, 23 points) as well as his team's top goalie (Bishop) both hurt, it's incumbent on Stamkos to perform better starting Saturday.

It's also incumbent on Cooper to give him more of a chance to do so.

The Lightning need to score more goals, so it's time for Cooper to go with his best. This is a Stanley Cup up for grabs, with his team having home-ice advantage. No more ill-advised "messages"—such as benching the star in the final minute of a Cup Final game when his team needs a goal—have to be sent to Stamkos at this stage.

It's time to see more of Stamkos and a little less of guys such as Brenden Morrow and Brian Boyle. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has no problem giving Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane minutes in the mid-to-high 20s when occasions warrant.

As Simmons further pointed out in the Sun:

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The Johnson Triplets line is clearly Cooper’s favourite. He won an American Hockey League championship coaching two-thirds of them. Those are his boys. He talks about them the way a father brags about his children. Any minute now, you expect him to pull out the baby pictures. 

He does says nice things about Stamkos too. He just doesn’t gush about his captain. 

But he does play him less. And there are those who believe Cooper favours those who played for him in the minors over those who did not. That may be his coaching comfort zone. It may eventually be his undoing in Tampa.

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Right. Look, nobody is saying Stamkos needs coddling. No need for a #FreeStamkos hashtag campaign on Twitter. But he's a superstar. It's time for him to receive superstar treatment.

Does anyone think Barry Trotz wouldn't up the ice time for Alex Ovechkin with a Stanley Cup on the line, or that Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin wouldn't play more in a Game 5 of a tied Finals series for the Penguins?

Stamkos wants the puck on his stick in this, the biggest moment of his career. Cooper needs give him every chance to get it.