The Puck Drops Here 6.3.15: #StanleyCupFinals Edition

By @CLulovics

The 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Finals will be contested by the Eastern Conference Champions Tampa Bay Lightning and the Western Conference Champions the Chicago Blackhawks starting June 3rd in Tampa. Let's take a quick look on how both teams made it to the Finals.

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ROAD TO THE FINALS

The Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Playoffs faced off against the Detroit Red Wings in the first time both teams have faced eachother in the playoffs. With Detroit making the playoffs for the 24th consecutive season might of been considered the favorite going into the first round match up with all the experience but the Lightning won the series after trading victories back and forth until Tampa pulled off back to back wins in game 6 and 7 propelling them into the Eastern Conference Semi Finals against the Montreal Canadians who took care of the Ottawa Senators in 6 games.

Against the Canadians the Lightning won the series in 6 games but not without the Canadians putting up a fight. Tampa started off fast winning the first 3 games before Montreal came back and won game 4 stopping the potential sweep winning 6-2 and game 5 2-1. In game 6 back in Tampa the Lightning didn't want to go back to Montreal for a game 7 winning game 6  4-1 propelling them to the Eastern Conference Finals

The Lightning faced off against the Presidents trophy winner in the New York Rangers. Once again for the Lightning the series went 7 games. Home ice advantage did not seem to help either team this series as the home team only won 2 games and the visitors winning 5. The Rangers were seeking a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals but the Lightning had other plans by defeating the Rangers in game 7 giving the Rangers their first ever game 7 home loss and sending them to the Finals for the second time in franchise history.

WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS ROAD TO THE FINALS
In the first round the Chicago Blackhawks faced off against the Nashville Predators in a series that saw the Blackhawks win in 6 games. With Nashville having home ice advantage the two teams split the first two games in Nashville before the home team the rest of the series winning every game. The series was a hard fought battle with 2 overtime games both won by the Blackhawks a double overtime along with a triple overtime game.

In the Western Conference Semi Finals the Blackhawks swept the Minnesota Wild 4 games to 0. All but one game was decided by 1 goal and no overtime games. In game 4 the Wild at home and hoping to extend the series saw the Blackhawks complete the sweep by a score of 4-3 and propelling them to the Western Conference Finals for the third consecutive year and 5th time in the last 7 years.

Going up against the top seeded team in the Western Conference in the Anaheim Ducks, the Blackhawks were in for a hard fight if they wanted to return to the Stanley Cup Finals and they got just that in the Ducks. In a series that can be described as the "overtime" series in which saw 3 games go into extra period, a triple and double overtime both won by Chicago along with a single overtime game won by the Ducks. Both teams traded victories until the series was tied 3-3 and game 7 headed back to Anaheim where the Ducks had been 7-1 (their only loss coming to Chicago in game 2) the Blackhawks won 5-3 winning back to back games and sending them to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in the past 6 years.

A LOOK AT THE FINAL SCHEDULE
GAME #1
Wednesday June 3rd 8pm in Tampa on NBC

GAME #2
Saturday June 6th 7:15pm in Tampa on NBC

GAME #3
Monday June 8th 8pm in Chicago on NBCSN

GAME #4
Wednesday June 10th 8pm in Chicago on NBCSN

GAME #5 IF NECESSARY
Saturday June 13th 8pm in Tampa on NBC

GAME #6 IF NECESSARY
Monday June 15th 8pm in Chicago on NBC

GAME #7 IF NECESSARY
Wednesday June 17the 8pm in Tampa on NBC

This is the first time that both teams will face eachother for the Cup. The Tampa Bay Lightning are  hoping to repeat history as they won the Cup back in 2004 in 6 games against the Calgary Flames. On the other side the Chicago Blackhawks will be making their 13th Finals appearance last winning the Cup in 2013 against the Boston Bruins in 6 games.

As always check the TV Tonight schedule here on TripleThreatCLE.com at for any changes that might occur during the Finals and follow @triple3xthreat On Twitter.