CHICAGO — With the Tampa Bay Lightning two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup, now seems about as good a time as any to speculate on who might win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Duncan Keith, Chicago
What more is there to say about Keith? He plays more than half the game, is tied for third in scoring with 20 points and has playoff-leading plus-14 rating. As the post-season continues and more Blackhawks go down to injury — the team is missing Michal Rozsival and was without Johnny Oduya for parts of Game 3 on Monday — Keith, who played nearly 50 minutes in a triple-OT win in the Western Conference final, is being leaned on even more.
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called this Hedman’s coming out party. But to anyone who has been watching Tampa Bay play for the past two years, what the 6-foot-6 defenceman has been doing during these playoffs is not surprising. It is just that he’s doing it on the big stage. Hedman trails only Keith in points, is second with a plus-13 rating and is a major reason why Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are still searching for their first goal of the final.
Patrick Kane, Chicago
While he has been quiet in the final — no goals and no points — Chicago would not be here without Kane leading the offence. Tied for second with 10 goals and tied for third with 20 points, Kane had seven points in a six-game series against the Predators, five goals in a four-game sweep against the Wild and seven points in a seven-game series against the Ducks. If the Blackhawks are going to defeat the Lightning, they will need him to pick up the scoring.
Ben Bishop, Tampa
While the Lightning goalie has been up-and-down during these playoffs, he seems to bring his best game when the team needs it the most. He has two Game 7 shutouts already and stopped 36 of 38 shots in Game 3 despite clearly being hurt after leaving the previous game with a mystery injury. If the Lightning manage to win two more games, it would be difficult not to reward their goaltender for gutting out some difficult wins.
