Lightning vs Blackhawks

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning tried to win a 1-0 game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. It didn't work.

Although the Lightning were happy with their defensive work for much of the 2-1 loss on Wednesday, they are going to need more offense as the best-of-7 series progresses. Game 2 is Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

"I think we had the chance to take that game in the first couple periods," coach Jon Cooper said Thursday. "We get that second one, we had chances. … We just couldn't get that second one. I felt if we got that second one, it would have put them away. We didn't. We let them hang around. It burned us."

After a strong start for the Lightning, which included Alex Killorn's highlight-reel goal and 10 of the first 13 shots on net, Tampa Bay struggled to find quality chances against Chicago and goaltender Corey Crawford.

TAMPA -- There are two rules that must be followed by any team coached by Jon Cooper.

Rule 76: No excuses, play like a champion.

Rule 113: Don't look for opportunities, make them.

These should sound familiar if you're fans of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

"They're from the movie 'Wedding Crashers,'" Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mark Barberio told NHL.com, "which is hilarious."

They are among the 115 rules that serve as Vaughn's character's code of conduct in the comedy, released in 2005.

"They have symbolism for us," Cooper said.

TAMPA -- Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final must have felt like deja vu for Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle.

The Lightning took an early 1-0 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks on a goal by Alex Killorn, only to lose the lead and the game 2-1 on goals by Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette during a flurry in the latter stages of the third period.

Chicago leads the best-of-seven series 1-0 with Game 2 to be played at Amalie Arena on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

A huge part of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final will be the battle between 2013 Cup winner Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning's Ben Bishop, who is making his Final debut. NHL.com scouted the goalies before the series and will track their performance each game, identifying attack trends and shot quality. Kevin Woodley, managing editor of InGoal Magazine, uses Double Blue Sports Analytics software to chart goals and shots in each game. Here are his findings from Game 1, a 2-1 victory by the Blackhawks on Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

Despite a lot of focus on the high-octane offenses of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks heading into the Stanley Cup Final, each goaltender benefitted from tight defensive structure during Chicago's 2-1 victory in Game 1.

There were 41 saves by the two goalies in Game 1 and 31 of those would be deemed "clean" shots, attempts that allowed the goalie time to get set and square up to the shooter without worrying about a screen or deflection.

TAMPA -- It happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. We all probably should have seen it coming too.

Here were the Lightning, the brash, confident newcomers to the NHL's biggest stage, controlling the puck, controlling the pace, and leading by a goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that will never panic because it just knows how to win at this time of the year.

Tampa Bay was riding Alex Killorn's goal, the one he scored 4:31 into the first period, deep into the third period. This wasn't out of character. The Lightning wanted to be defensive. They wanted to be conservative. Their past two wins, against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final, were shutouts.

TAMPA -- Rookie right wing Teuvo Teravainen administered a knockout punch for the Chicago Blackhawks with a goal and assist in the third period of a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

He did it in the coolest possible way too.

"He doesn't seem to have a heartbeat," teammate Marian Hossa said of the 20-year-old. "He's so calm. He's Finnish cold."

Teravainen, usually shy and reserved, delivered a great punchline while speaking with reporters about his performance.

TAMPA -- It's sometimes difficult to quantify the impact of experience, and it can often be a concept that gets overblown.

That appeared to be the case in the run-up to this Stanley Cup Final.

The Chicago Blackhawks, playing in their third Final in six seasons, had a clear advantage in that department when compared to the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing in their second Final, period.

But as the Lightning, fueled by a frenetic home crowd, got off to an excellent start in Game 1 on Wednesday and opened the scoring at 4:31 of the first period on a skilled deflection by Alex Killorn, the Blackhawks knew they weren't out of it.

In fact, they not only knew they weren't out of it, the Blackhawks knew they would come back if they stuck to the system and played the type of game that has brought them so much success over the years.

They believed it.

If there is one tangible benefit to experience, perhaps that is it. Belief.

"I think we always have that feeling," Chicago forward Patrick Sharp said. "It doesn't matter how the game is going, doesn't matter what the score is. I think there's a belief in our room that things are going to happen when we stick to the game plan and trust the process."

TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Lightning center Cedric Paquette wasn't expecting to draw the assignment of trying to shut down Chicago Blackhawks star center Jonathan Toews in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday. However, he proved to be up for the task.

The 21-year-old spent most of his 10:51 on ice doing his best to pester and frustrate Chicago's captain and the linchpin of the Blackhawks' top line. Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, said Tuesday that Toews was a "bigger, stronger, better" version of himself.

"I think I played well against him," said Paquette, who went 3-5 on faceoffs against Toews, with all eight draws coming in Tampa Bay's defensive zone or the neutral zone. "I think our line played well defensively. His line didn't get a lot of opportunities when we were on the ice. He's smart, he's knows where the puck is going to go, he knows where his teammates are going to go. We stayed on the defensive side of the puck, we kept it in, the little details."

TAMPA -- Don't call the Chicago Blackhawks a dynasty.

Owner Rocky Wirtz has another term for what his organization has become by making its third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in the past six seasons.

"What I would really like to say is I'm so proud of [general manager Stan Bowman] to keep re-inventing," Wirtz said prior to Game 1 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on Wednesday. "He invented the 2010 [championship] team. He invented the 2013 [championship] team, and I think this team is a re-invention too. So, it's more of a re-invention and being able to have a process in place to be successful."

The 'D' word is starting to get used more often when referring to the Blackhawks because of their extensive success since Wirtz took control of the team after his father's death in 2007. In eight years, a team that was regularly near the bottom is now a perennial contender looking to hoist the Cup for the third time since 2010.

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks haven't played each other since Feb. 27, the second game Chicago played after Patrick Kane sustained a fractured clavicle that put him out for the rest of the regular season. The Lightning won 4-0. It means nothing now.

So much is different for the Lightning and Blackhawks heading into Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday at Amalie Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports). For starters, Kane is back in Chicago's lineup and has 20 points in 17 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tampa Bay has played 20 out of a possible 21 games to reach the Cup Final for the first time since 2004, when current Blackhawks center Brad Richards won the Conn Smythe Trophy as a member of the Lightning.

Chicago played 17 games to get to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in six seasons.

Undoubtedly we'll know a lot more about what type of Cup Final we're in once a game is finally played. Heading into it, because there is not a lot of familiarity between the teams, it's still a mystery of what to truly expect, even though many pundits have their own ideas.

So instead of having keys for each team heading into Game 1, we have questions, as in three for the Blackhawks and three for the Lightning. Here they are: