With his Tampa Bay Lightning trailing 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final and scoreless in Game 6, captain Steven Stamkos had a chance to give his team the lead and take some energy out of a raucous United Center on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Stamkos, who had hit the post in the first period, found himself in on a breakaway 59 seconds into the second period. As Stamkos moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand, Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford went down to the ice but kept his left leg anchored against the post. He saved Stamkos' initial shot attempt before the Lightning captain shot his own rebound off the post, keeping the game scoreless.

Crawford made 25 saves in Game 6, shutting out the Lightning in a Stanley Cup-clinching performance as Chicago won 2-0. Crawford made 80 saves on the final 82 shots he faced in the Cup Final, and with his 49th playoff victory on Monday tied Tony Esposito for first all-time in Blackhawks franchise history.

With each of the five games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final decided by one goal, the margin for error has been razor thin. That was evident in Game 5 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning, when a couple of goaltending gaffes helped decide the course of the game and perhaps the remainder of the series.

During a sequence early in the first period, Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford erased a mistake of his own doing, the Lightning lost a key player, and Chicago forward Patrick Sharp cashed in on a big mistake by Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop. It added up to a 1-0 lead and a 2-1 win for the Blackhawks, who lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and are in position to win the Stanley Cup in Game 6 at United Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

It started when Crawford played the puck to the left of his net and his outlet pass hit Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. Crawford stopped Kucherov's shot at an open net with his stick to deny Tampa Bay the first goal of the game. In the process, Kucherov collided with Crawford, crashed shoulder first into the post, and left after three shifts 5:22 into the game and did not return.

With each game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final ending in a one-goal differential, the outcome has hung in the balance until the final seconds of play.

Game 4 Wednesday in Chicago was no exception.

The Chicago Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead thanks to a lucky goal, as forward Brandon Saad described it, 6:20 into the third period. The Tampa Bay Lightning pulled goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker in the final minutes to try and create a bit of their own luck.

With a little more than a minute left in the game, Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya blocked a shot in front of his goalie Corey Crawford and the puck bounced to Lightning forward Alex Killorn. He settled the puck and passed to forward Steven Stamkos in the slot. Stamkos one-timed it with Crawford sprawling above his crease, leaving the net wide open. Stamkos' shot looked as though it would even the score, but Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook waved his stick in the lane just in time to deflect the puck and send it left of the goal post.

The relative youth of the Tampa Bay Lightning has been a question throughout their run to the Stanley Cup Final.

But when faced with adversity during Game 3 of the Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Lightning showed how much resiliency they've gained.

Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad scored on an open look from above the hash marks to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 4:14 of the third period.

Already trailing 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning were staring at a 2-1 deficit in the second period of Game 2 after the Chicago Blackhawks scored twice in 2:16. Tampa Bay faced a similar situation to Game 1, when it allowed two goals in 1:58 of the third period that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 loss.

The threat of having to travel to Chicago down 2-0 in the best-of-7 series hanging over their heads, the Lightning took 92 seconds to respond, and it was a member of their famed "Triplets" line that got them going en route to a 4-3 victory.

After combining for 55 points in 21 games, the Triplets had three goals and eight points in their previous five with Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat combining for two shots in Game 1 on Wednesday. The line scored twice in Game 2, starting with Kucherov's deflection of defenseman Jason Garrison's shot that tied the game at 6:52 of the second period.

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford gave up a first-period goal Wednesday to Tampa Bay Lightning forward Alex Killorn, but nothing else as Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final moved past the midway point of the third period.

The problem was his counterpart, Ben Bishop of the Lightning, was working on a second consecutive shutout after blanking the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.

As the Lightning continued to carry their 1-0 lead deeper into the game, it became obvious that another goal against Crawford would all but seal the Blackhawks fate.

Lightning forward Ryan Callahan had the chance to double their lead on a breakaway with 8:24 remaining, but Crawford held strong. The Blackhawks then scored twice in 1:58, rookie forward Teuvo Teravainen scoring the first goal and setting up the game-winner by veteran forward Antoine Vermette, and pulled out a 2-1 win and an early lead in the best-of-7 series.

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith doesn't express much emotion on the ice. But he certainly found a positive way to react to any anger he had for being hit hard by Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler in the second period of Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday.

Keith responded to being rocked by Kesler by assisting on three Blackhawks goals in a 3:45 span, and early in the third period he saved a goal by pulling a loose puck off the goal line to preserve the Blackhawks' 3-2 lead.

Chicago went on to win 5-2 and force Game 7 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

The New York Rangers lit up the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final in a 7-3 win that evened the best-of-7 series 3-3 and set up Game 7 on Friday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

The biggest play of the game, however, was a goal that wasn't scored.

The Rangers led 2-1 after two periods and then erupted for four goals in the third. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 28 of his 36 saves in the first two periods to put the Rangers in position to break the game open in the third. His biggest save came in the first when he robbed Lightning captain Steven Stamkos at 14:14.

Steven Stamkos is rolling, which is a big reason why the Tampa Bay Lightning are a win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2004.

In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers on Sunday, Stamkos' power-play goal provided the final margin of victory in a 2-0 Lightning win that gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. He finished a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov when he redirected Palat's pass to beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist at 18:22 of the second period.

Stamkos, who scored 43 goals in the regular season, had a goal and an assist on Sunday, and is tied for second on the Lightning with 17 playoff points. After going the first eight games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs without a goal, the Lightning captain has scored in four straight games, and has seven goals and 14 points in his past 10. The four-game goal streak is tied for the Lightning playoff record set by Martin St. Louis in 2003 and Vincent Lecavalier in 2007.

CHICAGO -- Anaheim Ducks defenseman Simon Despres is becoming less of a mystery to his team every day.

Despres made one of his bigger reveals Thursday, finally illustrating in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final the goal-scoring touch that was part of the reason he was so coveted by Anaheim general manager Bob Murray as the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline approached.

Despres scored the first Stanley Cup Playoff goal of his career on a well-placed one-timer with 55 seconds remaining in the second period at United Center, breaking a tie and providing the winning margin in a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks.