The Chicago Blackhawks won’t fold to pressure that easily. Trailing the series 2-1, the Blackhawks leveled the series up after a gutsy 2-1 win in Game 4 on Wednesday. The series moves back to Tampa Bay, where a pivotal 3-2 series lead is up for grabs.
Read on for a full preview of this game below. You can also click here to see what the experts are saying about Saturday’s matchup.
[sc:NHLArticles ]Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks Game 5 Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 – June 3, 8:00 PM ET— Chicago Blackhawks 2 at Tampa Bay Lightning 1
Game 2 – June 6, 7:15 PM ET—Chicago Blackhawks 3 at Tampa Bay Lightning 4
Game 3 – June 8, 8:00 PM ET –Tampa Bay Lightning 3 at Chicago Blackhawks 2
Game 4 – June 10, 8:00 PM ET –Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at Chicago Blackhawks 2
Game 5 – June 13, 8:00 PM ET –Chicago Blackhawks at Tampa Bay Lightning – view all NHL lines
Game 6 – June 15, 8:00 PM ET – Tampa Bay Lightning at Chicago Blackhawks
Game 7* – June 17, 8:00 PM ET – Chicago Blackhawks at Tampa Bay Lightning
*If necessary
Betting on the Chicago Blackhawks
[sc:NHL240 ]Brandon Saad has made a lot of people in Chicago very happy on Wednesday night. That’s after the left-winger scored the game-winning goal for the Blackhawks late in Game 4. Saad now has scored two goals since Game 3. But there’s another good thing that happened for Chicago in Game 4 that should inspire the Blackhawks moving forward—the fact that Jonathan Toews has finally scored in this series.
Toews, who entered the game with just one point (an assist) in the finals, scored the first goal of the game via a rebound play in the first period. With Toews making his presence felt at last, Chicago hopes that Patrick Kane will follow suit in the next game. Kane was scoreless again on Wednesday, extending his goal-less drought to five games. Though he assisted on the Saad goal, it’s his scoring prowess which the Blackhawks are desperately looking for.
Kane will give it a go again this coming Saturday in Tampa Bay, where the Blackhawks are just 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. It’ll help Kane if Chicago executes its offense better. Chicago won the faceoff battle in Game 4, (38-20) but was still outshot (25-19) by the Lightning, largely because the Blackhawks gave the puck away 16 times. Better care of the puck should benefit Chicago’s special team, which went 0-for-3 on the mad advantage in the last game. Chicago is just 2-for-11 in power play opportunities in the finals.
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Betting on the Tampa Bay Lightning
With Ben Bishop out because of a lower-body injury, the Lightning were forced to put rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy in front of the net in Game 4. Despite the loss, they should be empowered at what they saw in the young goalie.
Vasilevskiy showed the poise of a seasoned veteran on Wednesday, as he turned away 17 of the Blackhawks’ 19 shots on goal. Vasilevskiy, however, got some serious help from Tampa Bay’s blue line, which put the Hawks’ offense in a chokehold. Tha was particularly true in the first period, where Chicago managed to get off just two shots on goal. Victor Hedman and co. will have to keep that up moving forward, especially if Vasilevskiy continues to start in lieu of Bishop.
On offense, Tampa Bay got its lone goal in Game 4 from Alex Killorn. Killorn has been a revelation in these playoffs, as he already has nine goals and nine assists in 24 postseason games. Back home for Game 5, the Lightning expect other familiar names to get into the scoring column such as second-liners Nikita Kucherov (10 goals this postseason) and Tyler Johnson (13 goals). Kucherov and Johnson have combined for 12 goals at home thus far in these playoffs.
It would be a good sign for Tampa Bay if they strike first in Game 5, as the Bolts are third this postseason in winning percentage (.917) when they score first.
The over is 6-1 in Tampa Bay’s last seven home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Chicago wins, 4-3.
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