Both the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks entered this season as contenders for the Stanley Cup. Both of these teams have been known for their resilience and ability to play their best when their backs were against the wall. Now, both teams have their backs against the wall as both must win two games to avoid elimination and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. But which team is more likely to come back and win their respective series, if any?
The case for the Blackhawks: They finally have figured out Frederik Andersen. Bruce Boudreau hadn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs before this season, and he made it to the Conference Finals with little resistance from the Winnipeg Jets or Calgary Flames. Closing out a team with a core that has won two Stanley Cups in the past five years is going to be a different animal. Furthermore, games 2-5 have all been one goal games, so the Blackhawks are playing competitively. Even game one was close until the third when Anaheim pushed it to 3-1 and then scored on an empty net to bloat the score to 4-1. This team battled back from down 3-1 against the Los Angeles Kings last year before falling in game seven. Their third line has also been playing well in this series - Antoine Vermette scored the game winning goal in game four and Teuvo Teravainen scored in game five, so they’ve gotten production from that line.
The case against the Blackhawks: They just look tired. Their top four defensemen are playing so much and Patrick Kane hasn't gotten going offensively in this series—if the Blackhawks are to come back and win this series, he needs to get on the scoresheet more. Corey Crawford hasn't been good enough and the defense hasn't been up to its standard ever since Michal Roszival got hurt. It looks like the Ducks are just deeper and can wear down the Blackhawks now in the latter part of the series. This year there have been three game sevens, and the visiting team has lost all of them. Chicago would be the visiting team if they play a game seven.
The case for the Rangers: Tampa is a young team and they had problems closing out Montreal. They played 13 games in the first two rounds, only one fewer than maximum. Will that catch up to them in the latter part of this series? The Rangers have shown plenty of resilience over the past couple years, coming back from 3-1 deficits to win in the second round each of the past two years. If they can win Tuesday and force a game seven in Madison Square Garden, Henrik Lundqvist and co. look a safe bet every time, whilst Ben Bishop has been erratic in this series, giving up five goals twice.
The case against the Rangers: The Lightning have the most explosive offense in the league and have gotten to Lundqvist in this series. They scored six goals in both game two and game three. The Rangers offense has been inconsistent in this series, scoring two goals in two games and getting shut out on their ice in game five. They are a team that likes to play fast and nobody is better at playing the fast, high-scoring style than the Tampa Bay Lightning. The crowd in Tampa will be absolutely electric as they hope to close out the series on home ice.