Stanley Cup 2015: Lightning vs. Blackhawks Game 6 Prop Odds and Stat Projections

The Chicago Blackhawks are 60 minutes away from their third Stanley Cup in the last seven years. Saturday night's 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning gave the battle-tested group a 3-2 heading back home for Game 6.

Corey Crawford converted 31 saves on 32 opportunities, continuing the trend of his performance being a strong win-loss barometer. Each of Chicago's three wins has come by a 2-1 score, the offense doing just enough to get by, while Crawford ascends.

Team	Moneyline	Spread	Over/Under
Lightning	+144	+1.5	5.5 (total)
Blackhawks	-160	-1.5	5.5 (total)

“We’ve gone through these situations before,” Crawford told reporters. “I think maybe the experience helps a little bit with pressure. I think we were able to deal with it a little bit better than maybe if it’s your first year, first time going through something like this.”

Crawford had been a polarizing figure in Chicago, putting together an all-around inconsistent campaign that nearly cost the Blackhawks on a number of occasions. But with the lights standing the brightest, Crawford stopped all but two shots in Game 5 and 6 wins.

John Raoux/Associated Press

The Lightning, who once led the series 2-1, continue to have their own interesting situation in net. Ben Bishop was back in net for Game 5, but he's been dealing with an undisclosed injury throughout the series. Tampa has yet to say whether he'll be in net for the potential series-deciding Monday.

"When you get this far, you don't want to hurt the team at all," Bishop said, per ESPN.com. "It's been a long season. You got this far, and you don't want to be holding back the team, I guess to say. It's an extremely tough decision to make."

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was stellar for the most part in Game 4, would get the start if Bishop is unable to go. The 20-year-old is one of the youngest goalies to start a Stanley Cup Final game, though it's unclear whether he'll get a second chance.

More important, perhaps, is Tampa's finding a way to get back in an offensive rhythm. Buoyed by their league-leading attack during the regular season and most of this playoff run, the Lightning have largely been stifled in this series. Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos have combined for just three points through the first five games, and winger Nikita Kucherov's status is up in the air after crashing into the net in Game 5.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

“Naturally he's a point-per-game guy in these playoffs,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said, per Josh Cooper of Yahoo Sports. “He's a big part of our offense. In a series where goals are at a premium, it's tough when you lose one of your guys. Naturally losing a guy like Kuch, you don't want to lose guys like that.”

The downturn has been a major defining point in this series. Tampa averaged 3.2 goals per game during the regular season and has only hit the four-goal mark once so far. Crawford deserves a ton of credit for upping his level of play, but don't be surprised if you hear increased chatter about this young Lightning roster not being "ready" for the big moment.

We could argue for and against that point all evening—I'm firmly in the latter camp—but columnists are already playing the experience angle.

"This was the difference between a team that wants to win games like these and one that knows it can," David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune wrote. "This was Experience 2, Potential 1."

Indeed, the Blackhawks do have a bevy of playoff experience. They've made at least the conference finals each of the last three seasons and have done so five times in the last seven. This core has been together so long and been so successful that some were wondering if 2015 was the last time we'd see these guys all together. 

Tampa has moved back and forth between spectacular and disappointing, nearly making a finals appearance in 2011 before missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and then righting the ship the past two.

The future is bright for this core, which could be on the precipice of dominating the Eastern Conference. If the Lightning are able to come back, this might be seen as a torch-passing finals.

These back-to-the-wall situations are far from a new thing for this Lightning team. It faced a Game 7 twice on its way to winning the Eastern Conference and went six in another. There have been no easy victories for these talented upstarts, which makes it fitting they're on the precipice of being eliminated going back to Chicago.

Look for Tampa to get the job done on the road and figure out a way to make this seventh game happen.

Prediction: Lightning 4, Blackhawks 2