Lightning vs Blackhawks

TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy has had a few dreams about winning his first game in the Stanley Cup Final, but it is unlikely that even the wildest of those resembled what transpired Saturday at Amalie Arena.

Vasilevskiy, who twice replaced starter Ben Bishop for undisclosed reasons in the third period of Game 2, became the first goalie in 24 years to win a Final game in relief when the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Game 2 to even the best-of-7 series at 1-1.

He also became the first goalie to earn his first career playoff win in relief in the Final since Lester Patrick, then the coach of the New York Rangers, did so in 1928.

TAMPA -- Two games almost never feels like an eternity, but it can when you're in the Stanley Cup Final.

Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, in an attempt to get his top two offensive players going, began the third period of Game 2 of the Final on Saturday with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane split up, the way they were most of the season.

At the time, neither Toews nor Kane had registered a point in the series.

The result of the switch was almost immediately positive. The final overall result, however, was not.

Toews set up Brent Seabrook for a goal at 3:38 of the third period that tied the game 3-3 for his first point of the series, but Jason Garrison put the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead 4-3 five minutes later, and that proved to be the winning goal, tying the series 1-1 heading into Game 3 in Chicago on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

"It is something we saw coming," Toews said of the line change. "I think we had a lot of puck possession, but I don't think we quite got to the inside as much early in the game. [Marian Hossa] jumps on our line, and we finally score. Sometimes a quick change like that will make things click. If you keep working for offense, we know it is going to come."

TAMPA -- This is what the Tampa Bay Lightning do.

They fight back. They respond. They answer all the questions after a Game 1 loss about if they're good enough, strong enough, and most important, experienced enough. They do all of it while keeping an air of confidence that suggests cockiness but isn't. It's more swagger than anything else, and it comes from their extremely positive and somewhat brash coach.

They do it all, and then they go out and win Game 2 as if they knew they were going to all along, as if they planned it this way.

It happened in the Eastern Conference First Round. It happened in the conference final. It happened again on the NHL's biggest stage Saturday.

The Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 at Amalie Arena to improve to 4-0 with 21 goals in Game 2s in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. More important, they tied the Stanley Cup Final at 1-1.

TAMPA -- A year ago, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman was three wins shy of winning the Stanley Cup but also faced a summer of uncertainty as an unrestricted free agent.

The pain of losing in the Stanley Cup Final was compounded when his agent and the New York Rangers were unable to work out a new contract.

"At that time, I was very disappointed I didn't get a chance to stay. Honestly, that's all I wanted to do," Stralman said.

The disappointment didn't last very long. Stralman signed a five-year, $22.5 million contract with the Lightning hours after the free agency period opened July 1, and it has proven to be a perfect match.

Stralman is no longer one of the most underrated players in the NHL. He's a top-pairing defenseman and back in the Stanley Cup Final, helping the Lightning defeat the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final in the process.

The Chicago Blackhawks lead the best-of-7 series 1-0 after a 2-1 victory in Game 1. Game 2 is at Amalie Arena on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are playing catch-up after the first game of a series for the third time in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Each of the Lightning's four series-openers has been decided by one goal. They've lost three, including Game 1 of the Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 on Wednesday. Game 2 will be at Amalie Arena on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he feels the first game of a best-of-7 series can be a learning process.

"Game 1 is definitely a feeling-out period, especially in this series when you haven't played these teams very often," Cooper said Friday. "Especially the [New York] Rangers [in the Eastern Conference Final], we played them in December. We hadn't seen too much of them. I think some of the other games; we've lost what now, three out of the four Game 1s. So maybe we've got a little bit more panic since we were down in Game 1. I don't know, there's maybe some more focus in Game 2."

TAMPA -- Logic and an understanding of the limits of the human body would suggest that this cannot last.

The Chicago Blackhawks have ridden four defensemen into the Stanley Cup Final, and they have ridden them hard. Each of the four, Duncan Keith (31:27), Brent Seabrook (26:21), Niklas Hjalmarsson (26:20) and Johnny Oduya (25:17), is averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per game.

No other healthy Blackhawks defenseman is averaging more than 11 minutes.

In the Western Conference Final, the Anaheim Ducks figured they would pound those four defensemen every chance they got, on every forecheck, on every Blackhawks breakout and every pass attempt. Eventually, the physical toll being dished out had to have an effect, and over the course of a long series the Ducks would see the benefit of it.

It was a very sound theory. It didn't work.

TAMPA -- Hall of Fame defenseman Brian Leetch keeps seeing the same thing when he watches Duncan Keith play for the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: a future Hall of Fame defenseman.

"I don't know how it couldn't be looked at that way," Leetch told NHL.com. "From the eye test. From watching him on the ice. His age. And then you bring up the individual and team awards, I'm not sure how you'd be able to keep him out."

Keith, 31, is three wins away from winning the Stanley Cup for the third time. The Blackhawks lead the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final with Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

The Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game, is generally the province of centers.

In January, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper made a case for Ondrej Palat, who plays on the left wing, to break the run of centers winning the award for each of the past 10 years.

"I still believe Palat is the straw that stirs the drink on that line," Cooper said. "He's oozing with hockey sense and he's skilled. He is like Patrice Bergeron as a winger to me."

Opposite Palat in the Stanley Cup Final is Marian Hossa, another defensively skilled forward whom the Selke has eluded.

Each of these players, though, is key in their team's defensive schemes, and each will be relied upon in that capacity for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) as the Tampa Bay Lightning look to even up the series with the Chicago Blackhawks.

For additional insight into the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks during the Stanley Cup Final, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Dave Farrish to break down the action. Farrish will be checking in throughout the series.

Farrish was an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs from 2005-14. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He also coached 1,027 games in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Farrish, a former defenseman, played 430 games over seven seasons in the NHL.

The fact that the Tampa Bay Lightning learned in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final that they have nothing to fear as long as they play their game is a good thing, former NHL assistant coach Dave Farrish said. It should benefit them come Saturday, when they play Game 2 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Amalie Arena (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

Farrish called the Lightning's 2-1 loss on Wednesday "a great education for them." He also said it's great for their confidence to know that they can make the Blackhawks vulnerable.

TAMPA -- Entering the Stanley Cup Final, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were playing so well together, he saw no reason to split them up.

The Tampa Bay Lightning may have given him one.

The Blackhawks won Game 1 of the series on Wednesday 2-1, but the way the line of Toews, Kane and Brandon Saad was neutralized by the Lightning's top defensive pairing of Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, as well as the surprise use of Cedric Paquette as a checking center with Ryan Callahan on his wing, might give Quenneville something to think about heading into Game 2 on Saturday (7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

Quenneville has used Toews and Kane on separate lines most of the season, with Marian Hossa playing with Toews and Kane lining up next to center Brad Richards. When that's the case, opposing teams are forced to pick their poison when deploying their best defensive players, particularly on the back end. When Toews and Kane are together, as they were in Game 1, that decision becomes much easier.