Dose: Vermette Yet Again

In a strange way, there’s a part of me that doesn’t really have a “feel” for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

I’m not sure what is, really. Maybe it’s just that strange disconnect that comes from watching a West vs. East team after three rounds of dogfights between familiar foes? Could it be the injuries that have sort of thrown the rhythm off of this series? Speaking of rhythm, maybe it’s just a matter of irregular extra-day breaks throwing the flow for a loop?

Actually, the thing might just be that every game is so achingly close.

Yes, there are stretches of dominance, but this doesn’t feel like other series. In other rounds, there was a comfort in feeling one way or another. Maybe the team that felt like it was better didn’t win every game, or even a respective series, yet at least there felt like an overriding theme in most cases.

About the only feeling I’ve gotten from the 2015 SCF is “I get the impression the Chicago Blackhawks will win one way or another.”

Maybe that’s the only feeling I should reasonably anticipate, anyway?

Depending upon how things go, we’ll see the end of the 2014-15 season on either Monday or Wednesday night. With that, we’re guaranteed of either one or two more Doses until next season. It’s been a long, long run - heck, the playoffs alone began in April, somehow - but it’s almost over.

I imagine the near-unanimous feeling is sadness in that regard, though.

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BLACKHAWKS 2, LIGHTNING 1

-- One bummer about this series, especially for casual fans, is that Tyler Johnson clearly isn't 100 percent.

He still has moments where he shows that burst and looks dangerous, but it's also obvious that something isn't right.

The Lightning have depended heavily on scoring from their top two scoring lines, so seeing Johnson off his game isn't ideal for the Bolts. In a way, it's kind of amazing that they've won two games considering the circumstances.

-- Speaking of big obstacles, Nikita Kucherov may be even worse shape than Johnson after Game 5. You didn't have to strain to figure out when he (seemingly) got hurt, either; he seemed to slam his neck/shoulder into the post crashing the net to try to take advantage of a Corey Crawford blunder.

That happened in the first period, and he didn't play another shift. If he does play in Game 6, I doubt he'll be anywhere near full strength.

Jon Cooper honestly has to ask himself a few questions either way. Should he consider mixing up his lines a bit?

"The Triplets" have been crucial to Tampa Bay's success, and it's honestly pretty rare to see a full trio stick together like this - we usually don't see anything better than duos enjoying legitimate continuity - but sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone. Maybe move Johnson to a line with Steve Stamkos? Perhaps put both of those injured players in more playmaking roles than ever before if they can't really fire the puck as well as usual?

I don't know, but just doing the same thing and hoping for the best might not be the optimal course of action.

-- Look, I'm still not convinced that Ben Bishop is "OK." That said, you really have to give the guy credit for playing resoundingly well even as his flexibility and mobility aren't all there.

-- Antoine Vermette really hasn't been that great in the postseason, and really since he joined the Blackhawks. Most GMs hopefully notice that he's been pretty mediocre in his contract year. Like, "occasional healthy scratch" mediocre.

He's really not been that impressive, yet his agent can really highlight his efficient work in the faceoff dot and “clutch factor” (three of his four postseason goals have been GWGs) and gloss over the “not really worth what the Blackhawks gave up for him” angle.

-- All the Bishop drama has really overshadowed a nice postseason run for Corey Crawford, including last night's performance in which he stopped 31 out of 32 shots. His postseason save percentage (.920) is almost as strong as his regular season mark (.924), and I'm starting to think that we can bump him up the rankings a bit after this season.

Now, where should he land? I dunno.

-- The Blackhawks are one win away from winning a Stanley Cup with considerable roster imbalance. Kimmo Timonen only received 5:05 TOI and Trevor van Riemsdyk only logged 8:01 in Game 5, and it's not like these are outlier numbers.

You really shouldn't be able to get away with that, but the Blackhawks' best players are just so good that they can survive it.

On that note, Duncan Keith indeed deserves a lot of credit, but let's save a little dap for Niklas Hjalmarsson, too. I know his name is way tougher to spell, BUT STILL.

-- Speaking of ice time, why is Victor Hedman not getting monster minutes? He's a machine out there - I flippantly wondered if he was the best defenseman on the ice last night, because he's crazy good - yet he only received 23:38 TOI. Is Cooper saving him for street hockey games?

-- I like seeing Jonathan Drouin in the Lightning lineup, but why at the expense of Nikita Nesterov? Personally, I'd scratch one of Matt Carle, Andrej Sustr or even Braydon Coburn instead.

That's just me, though.

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