NHL Playoff Schedule 2016: Updated Conference Finals Bracket and Outlook

The Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues were confronted by the reality that neither team was playing its best hockey going into Game 4 of its respective conference final series.

Both responded with impressive efforts that left both series tied after four games.

The Lightning still have a few questions to answer because they jumped on the backs of Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin to build a 4-0 lead on the Pittsburgh Penguins before giving up three third-period goals and hanging on for a 4-3 victory on Friday.

The Lightning responded to back-to-back losses by dictating the pace against the Penguins and opening up a big lead. However, when Phil Kessel unleashed a hard wrister that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy, it blunted Tampa Bay's momentum. Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz followed with goals to get the Penguins close, but the Lightning held on for the much-needed victory.

The San Jose Sharks blanked the Blues in back-to-back games, and though St. Louis only trailed the series by a 2-1 margin, it felt like a much greater deficit.

Head coach Ken Hitchcock inserted goalie Jake Allen into the lineup in place of Brian Elliott, and his team responded to the move with a huge effort. The Blues found their scoring touch and pummeled the Sharks 6-3 Saturday night, regaining the momentum in the series.

"I thought we went back to our roots, what made us successful all throughout the regular season the first two rounds of the playoffs," center Troy Brouwer said after the game, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press (via CBS Sports). "We were able to get pucks deep, we were able to create chances from below the goal line rather than trying to create stuff off the rush."

Matchup	Series Standings	Date	Time (ET)	TV
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	2-2	May 22	8 p.m.	NBCSN, CBC, TVAS
San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues	2-2	May 23	8 p.m.	NBCSN, CBC, TVAS

In addition to the Lightning and Blues breathing easier after their most recent wins, hockey fans are in a position to witness dramatic finishes to both conference final series. The Lightning and Penguins will play their pivotal fifth game Sunday night and continue to play every other day until the series reaches its conclusion.

The Sharks and Blues play their fifth game Monday night and will finish the series with games on Wednesday and Friday (if necessary).

The key issue for the Lightning is their ability to get the puck out of their own zone and up the ice quickly. They did that through the first two periods in Game 4, and it was enough to get them a victory. They didn't do it in Games 2 or 3, and they lost both.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is facing a key moment Sunday night, as he must decide whether Matt Murray remains in goal or Marc-Andre Fleury gets the start. Murray has backstopped the Penguins throughout the postseason. However, Fleury replaced Murray Friday night, and his insertion coincided with the Penguins' comeback in the third period.

"We thought Matt made some big saves," Sullivan told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. "The goals that they scored, they were high-quality chances. They would have been tough saves. So, it's an opportunity to get Marc some game action. Sometimes when you make that type of a decision as a coach, it has an impact on the group in front of the goaltender."

Murray, who will turn 22 later in May, has a 2.33 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage during the postseason. Fleury has long been considered one of the top goalies in the NHL, and he had a fine regular season with a 2.29 GAA and a .921 save percentage before he was sidelined with a concussion in April.

However, he has struggled in the postseason before, and his save percentage dipped below .900 from 2010 through 2013. While Sullivan has not spoken about that, Fleury's past postseason problems could be influencing the coach's thinking.

That decision is likely to have an impact on the remainder of the series.

The Penguins and Blues have home-ice advantage and will host two of their respective series' three remaining games if both go the distance. That may just be the decisive factor in each.