Between the Chicago Blackhawks’ veteran poise and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s young stars, the Stanley Cup Final will have no shortage of dynamic offensive talent playing on hockey’s biggest stage.
The Blackhawks begin the final series in their quest for a third NHL championship in six seasons when they visit Amalie Arena on Wednesday to face the Lightning, who are going for the second Stanley Cup title in franchise history after streaking through the Eastern Conference bracket with a series of gutsy victories.
Both teams got to the last round in dramatic fashion, winning Game 7 on the road in the conference finals. Both are surging with confidence after putting away the Anaheim Ducks and the New York Rangers, who finished with their conferences’ best regular-season records.
And both the Blackhawks and the Lightning know how to entertain. Chicago stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are in the midst of another spectacular postseason, while Tampa Bay boasts two-time NHL goal-scoring leader Steven Stamkos and the dynamic “Triplets” line featuring youngsters Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov.
“Certainly watching their series against the Rangers, they have a lot of options with their skill, how dangerous they can be with putting pucks in the net,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said of the Lightning.