The Chicago Blackhawks have had a long and arduous road to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, but they bring a ton of experience into this last series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Still, there are a lot of crucial factors which will stand between the Hawks and their third championship since 2010.
WHY THE BLACKHAWKS WON'T WIN THE STANLEY CUP
The Lightning have home ice advantage, and though that really didn't mean a darn thing in the Eastern Conference Finals, it still should be a big factor for a Chicago team which has won just 29 out of 50 games played on the road including the playoffs.
The bigger concern though, is Corey Crawford. The veteran net minder has been much better of late than he was to open up these playoffs, but a 2.56 GAA for the second season alongside a .919 save percentage just aren't good enough figures.
Crawford has had too many games this postseason in which he has just looked lost in the pipes, including when he allowed five goals on 28 shots in Game 5 in Anaheim and when he allowed three somewhat soft goals on just 26 shots in Game 1 to start off that series.
Crawford hasn't had a game in the playoffs in which he’s allowed fewer than two goals, and against a Tampa Bay team which hasn't conceded gobs of opportunities in most of its playoff games this year, that could be a real problem.
WHY THE BLACKHAWKS WILL WIN THE STANLEY CUP
For our money, they have the better roster from top to bottom. They've got stronger, much more veteran players on defense than that of Tampa Bay, and for our money, their skaters garner as much attention as those top lines for the Lightning.
Joel Quenneville has a couple aces in the hole right now as well. He hasn't let Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews play on the same line all that much, but when the two have been out there together, Chicago has been incredibly dangerous.
Furthermore, Brad Richards is playing his best hockey of the playoffs at the moment, and we haven't even discussed Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Andrew Shaw or Brandon Saad yet either, all of which have been excellent and have a lot of playoff experience.
Many of these Blackhawks were brought together in 2010 to win a Stanley Cup. They've done it twice, and now they're favored to do so a third time. They're playing against a team which was swept out of the first round of the playoffs last season and hasn't had a run like this in five years. That's a huge edge to the Blackhawks, and that could more than make up for the fact that Tampa Bay has home ice.
Chicago knows if it steals one of those first two games in the Sunshine State, this series will play right into its hands the rest of the way, knowing that it just doesn't blow series leads against anyone which it runs up against.
The NHL spreads for all of the games in this series will be first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for the NHL playoffs using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning will start on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL, while Games 3, 4 and 6 will take place at the United Center in Chicago, IL.
