Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Picks, where CBS hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz get you ready for every game every day of the postseason and share their predictions for each.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. ET, Game 7, NBCSN
Series tied 3-3
The first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs comes to a close on Wednesday night with one more Game 7.
This time it is in Tampa Bay where the Lightning will host the Detroit Red Wings in the deciding game of their first round matchup.
The big story in this game, of course, came on Tuesday when the NHL suspended Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall one game for charging Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov during Game 6. Even though the hit deserved a suspension, it was still a little surprising to see the NHL actually go through with it and suspend a player for such an enormous game, especially given some of the things that have seemingly been overlooked this postseason.
It is definitely going to be an issue for the Red Wings as Kronwall is not only one of the their top players and arguably their top defenseman, he has also played more than 23 minutes per night in this series, three minutes more than any other player on the team.
That is a big hole to fill and a lot of top minutes for somebody else to eat up.
What should be especially concerning for the Red Wings given the absence of Kronwall is that the Lightning offense seemed to start finding its way in Game 6, continuing what has been a rather hit-or-miss series for them. The Lightning have been shut out twice by Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek, but they have also scored five goals twice and three goals once. And even though the Red Wings have managed to keep Steven Stamkos off the scoreboard, they have not been able to find an answer for Tyler Johnson who just keeps scoring goals and making big plays for the Lightning.
Nine different players have combined to score 15 goals in this series for the Lightning, but only two of them have more than one: Alex Killorn (two) and Johnson (six).
Can the Red Wings defense and Mrazek slow the Lightning down enough to win one more game and pull off the upset?
Without Kronwall, it's going to be a challenge.
Pick: Lightning 4, Red Wings 2
Three Stars
1. Tyler Johnson, Tampa Bay Lightning: How do you not go with a guy that has six goals in six games, including three different two-goal games? He is the most dangerous player in this series right now and always seems to be in the right place to make a big play when the Lightning need it most.
2. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning: No, he doesn't have a goal in the series, but he hasn't exactly been a liability, either. One of these days we'll all realize that given the current goal scoring climate in the NHL even the best players in the world are going to hit lengthy dry spells from time to time. All you can do is keep trying to make plays, keep creating chances, and keep getting pucks at the net. He has 19 shots on goal in the series. Eventually he is going to find the back of the net.
3. Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings: Other than Petr Mrazek and Pavel Datsyuk, Tatas has been a bright spot at times for the Red Wings in this series, including Game 6 when he scored a pair of goals to try and get his team back into the game. He is one of the new faces that is going to keep the Red Wings a contender in the NHL for the foreseeable future as their veterans continue to get older.
