The Tampa Bay Lightning punched their ticket to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final on Friday night with a Game 7 win over the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Tampa Bay’s opponent will be determined Saturday night when the Anaheim Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final.
The Ducks had an opportunity to clinch Wednesday in Chicago, but the Blackhawks responded with a 5-2 win to extend the series. Anaheim hasn’t reached the Cup Final since 2007, when it defeated the Ottawa Senators in five games for the first championship in franchise history.
The Blackhawks are hoping to reach their third Cup Final in the last five years. Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and 2013.
Here’s a preview of the Blackhawks-Ducks Game 7.
Date, Time, TV Info: Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC
Leading Scorers: Blackhawks — Patrick Kane (10 goals, seven assists, 17 points); Ducks — Ryan Getzlaf (two goals, 17 assists, 19 points)
Key Player For Ducks: Ryan Kesler did a tremendous job defending Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews early in the series, but the Chicago captain has tallied four points in the last three games, two of which were ‘Hawks victories. The Ducks acquired Kesler last summer exactly for these types of games. His role Saturday night is to be a shutdown forward against Chicago’s top line and help Anaheim’s penalty kill. Any offensive production would be a nice bonus.
Key Player For Blackhawks: Patrick Kane is the most clutch player in the NHL and leads Chicago with 17 points in 16 playoff games. The former Conn Smythe Trophy winner has scored one goal in three of the last four games and has three series-winning goals on his career playoff resume. Expect an excellent performance from Kane.
Goaltending Matchup: Inconsistency has plagued Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen this series. He’s played very well in a few of the games, but in others, such as Game 5 and Game 6, he looked very shaky at times and gave up some soft goals. Andersen has allowed 13 goals with a save percentage below .900 over the last three games, and Anaheim needs a much better effort to have any chance of winning Game 7.
Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford also has struggled at various points this postseason, but throughout his career he’s stepped up when it’s mattered most. He made 30 saves on 32 shots for a .938 save percentage in Chicago’s Game 6 win.
Crawford didn’t play well in last season’s Game 7 of the West Final when he allowed five goals in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He’s likely to use that performance as motivation Saturday night.
Prediction: We’ll have the fourth overtime game of the series and the Ducks will win on a goal from Corey Perry to clinch a Stanley Cup Final berth.
Thumbnail photo via Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
