Blackhawks vs. Lightning: Adjustments Each Team Must Make After 1st 4 Games

Moving forward in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning must make adjustments with their lineups and play in order to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.

With the series knotted up at 2-2, here are two changes each team must make to keep their championship dreams alive.

Chicago Blackhawks 

Find a Way to Sustain Leads 

According to CBSSports.com's Adam Gretz, Chicago only held a lead for six total minutes in the series heading into Game 4.

After Jonathan Toews gave the Blackhawks their first 1-0 lead of the series, Tampa Bay responded with heavy pressure before Alex Killorn scored just five minutes later.

In Game 3, Ondrej Palat tied the score at 2-2 a mere 13 seconds after Chicago’s Brandon Saad scored. In Game 2, Nikita Kucherov knotted the score at 2-2 just 92 seconds after Teuvo Teravainen gave Chicago the lead.

The Blackhawks were fortunate in Game 4 to hold off a number of furious Tampa Bay rallies after Saad scored early in the third period.

The Lightning looked certain to score if they had been granted an extra minute or so of game time.

This is a disturbing trend that Chicago must change to keep any momentum in this series. The Blackhawks are an experienced team that keeps giving the Lightning life. This is only building Tampa Bay’s confidence.

Corey Crawford must be sharp like he was at the end of Game 4 in these situations. Chicago also appears to be sitting back after scoring. Instead, they must keep attacking in order to maintain pressure on the Lightning.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Make a Firm Decision on Depth Defensemen 

The Blackhawks’ lack of defensive depth has been well documented in these playoffs. The team has primarily played four defensemen for the last two playoff rounds.

Meanwhile, the team has been playing musical chairs with Kimmo Timonen, Kyle Cumiskey, Trevor van Riemsdyk and David Rundblad as the other two defensemen in the lineup.

None of these four have played over 10 minutes in this series and all four have struggled. Cumiskey was unable to tie up Cedric Paquette for the Lightning’s game-winning goal in Game 3 and Van Riemsdyk lost Killorn for his goal in Game 4.

However, the uncertainty of who will play and how much they will play is making it tough on the four.

“Yeah, it’s hard,” Rundblad said, per Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s important to try to stay in the game, and not start thinking about something else. Just focus on the game and you’re fine.”

Rather than keeping his players on their toes, head coach Joel Quennevile should play the same two bottom-pairing defensemen for the remainder of the series. Doing so would instill some confidence in these players and eliminate some uncertainty for the rest of the team.

Look for Van Riemsdyk to stay on as a regular for the rest of the series. He has looked poised with the puck and comfortable in his own end, despite being beaten for a goal in Game 4.

As for the sixth defenseman, Timonen is the most experienced of the candidates, but at 40 years old, he has looked slow. Cumiskey has played the most of the group and made some nice plays with his speed, so look for him to get some more time.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Tampa Bay Lightning

Punish the Chicago Defense 

While the Lightning have impressed with their tenacity on the forecheck, there have been too many instances where they have not finished their checks as hard as they could.

Chicago’s Duncan Keith is playing nearly 30 minutes per game in the series and Johnny Oduya is almost playing with one arm, according to Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune. The Lightning must make it a priority to wear down Chicago’s defense.

This means Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper should get players like Ryan Callahan, J.T. Brown, Brian Boyle and Brenden Morrow on the ice against Keith or Oduya. They are fast and very physical, which could create problems for the ailing Chicago defense.

The Blackhawks’ biggest problem is their defensive depth.

Tampa Bay must exploit this by hitting Chicago's blueliners at every opportunity in order to wear them down. This would allow the Lightning's top players to use their speed and skill against a tired defense.

Go with 12 Forwards

With Chicago thin on defense, the Lightning should be dressing more forwards to attack them. Instead, they have primarily been dressing seven defensemen and 11 forwards.

LNH.com’s Arpon Basu (h/t NHL.com) wrote on June 9 that this strategy has worked well for the Lightning to this point, as evidenced by the team’s 9-4 record this postseason with seven defensemen.

However, this series poses a different threat to what Tampa Bay faced in the Eastern Conference. This strategy was effective against a team like the New York Rangers since they had exceptional forward depth. In this case, Chicago’s weakness is its lack of defensemen.

An extra body on the forecheck can only help the Lightning.

Nikita Nesterov, the team’s seventh defenseman, is getting similar ice time to Chicago’s depth defensemen at just under 10 minutes per game. Rather than seldom playing him, insert a physical player like Mike Angelidis or a skill guy like Jonathan Drouin to attack Chicago’s defensive group.

Prediction

Chicago’s experience should prevail. It is likelier to make the necessary adjustments than a Tampa Bay team full of players who have not been in this situation before.

Quenneville’s history with the team also bodes well. His outstanding record late in series and penchant for making the right adjustments are outstanding, as TSN’s Gino Reda noted:

Every game in this series has been decided by one goal, so it will definitely come down to the wire. However, the Blackhawks are too good in these high-pressure situations.

Chicago wins in seven games.