Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning face-off for Game 1 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series live from the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.
Both teams took Game 7s to get here as Chicago topped the Anaheim Ducks in the do-or-die game in the Western Conference Final and Tampa Bay overcame the New York Rangers in the decisive game in the Eastern Conference Final. Both teams won Game 7 on the road.
The Blackhawks also defeated the Nashville Predators in six games in the opening round and swept the Minnesota Wild in Round 2 while the Lightning topped the Detroit Red Wings in Round 1 and then knocked off the Montreal Canadiens in six in the second round.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final can be live streamed for free here.
Tampa Bay is in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history and is looking to lift the Cup for the first time since 2004. Chicago is back in the Cup Final for the third time in six years after hoisting the best trophy in sports the last two times it made it to the final round in 2010 and 2013.
These clubs split both of their meetings in the regular season with the Blackhawks picking up a 3-2 shootout win on Nov. 11 at home and the Lightning taking the most recent meeting, 4-0, on home ice on Feb. 27.
These teams are very similar with speedy top units and deep offenses that can score from top to bottom.
The Blackhawks are hoping to become something of a modern day dynasty and they know the sort of opportunity that lay in front of them being four wins away from yet another championship.
"The opportunity that we have is right there in front of us," captain Jonathan Toews said via NHL.com. "This is the last series. We want to have a great start to it. So that is something that we can definitely focus on, is just having that desperation that we've had late in the series and applying that right off the start."
Toews is tied with Duncan Keith (two goals, 16 assists) for second on the team with 18 points while Patrick Kane has a team-best 10 tallies and 20 helpers. Marian Hossa has 13 points while Patrick Sharp has 12 and Brandon Saad has six markers.
The Lightning, which has drawn comparisons to the 2010 Blackhawks team that hoisted the Cup with young, homegrown talent, knows it has to knock off a potential dynasty to win it all.
"That team, they have a really good team, and they have a skilled team," Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov told NHL.com. "In all those years, they've done a good job. They won twice, and I know they can win the Cup. They know how to win it, but we don't care. We're hungry to win it and we're going to work hard to get it."
Kucherov is part of the famed Triplets Line with Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, which has been a driving force for Tampa Bay through two straight rounds. Johnson leads the postseason with 12 goals and 21 assists while Kucherov has 19 points off of 10 markers and nine helpers and Palat has found the twine seven times and added eight assists for 15 points.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who had a scoring drought to start the playoffs, has found his form as the spring has gone on. Stamkos has seven goals and 17 points entering his first Stanley Cup Final.
In the crease, Tampa Bay turns to 6-foot-7 netminder Ben Bishop, who is four victories away from a Cup in his first postseason. Bishop is 12-8 in these playoffs with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
Chicago counters with 2013 Stanley Cup champion Corey Crawford in the blue paint and he is 9-4 in the postseason with a 2.56 GAA, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.
The Stanley Cup Final begins when the puck drops on the Blackhawks and the Lighting in Game 1 live from the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.
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