Stanley Cup Final: Five keys to Lightning vs. Blackhawks in Game 3

CHICAGO – The Tampa Bay Lightning hit the road to battle the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The series is tied 1-1.

Here are five keys to the third game of the last series of the NHL postseason:

1. The mystery of Ben Bishop

The Lightning’s starting goalie left Game 2 twice in the third period, as Andrei Vasilevskiy came on in relief, made five saves and got the win.

What was wrong with Bishop? The Lightning are playing super coy about it, not revealing any details. (The scuttlebutt on-site was that it was, um, bathroom related, due to dehydration, rather than an injury.)

Will Bishop play in Game 3? All signs point to “yes” although neither Bolts coach Jon Cooper nor Bishop would confirm it.

If he can’t go, Vasilevskiy has been called a “1-A” by Cooper.

2. Patrick Kane’s Scoring Drought

Oh no! Patrick Kane was held without a shot in a playoff game, something that hasn’t happened since May 17, 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings. Kane hasn’t scored in the first two games of the series; will the return of Bryan Bickell on his wing create the space he needs to find the net again?

To that end …

3. The Return of Bryan Bickell

The hulking, net-crashing forward for the Blackhawks is over a bout of vertigo that kept him out of the first two games of the series and figures to play with Kane and Brad Richards. Bickell, usually a solid playoff scorer, doesn’t have a goal in the 2015 playoffs.

4. Lightning, Road Warriors

Tampa Bay is 7-3 on the road in this postseason – including that incredible victory in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden – and has given up just 16 goals in 10 road games. (The Blackhawks have given up 36 road goals in 11 games, for comparison’s sake.)

5. Discipline

The Lightning arguably won Game 2 after Patrick Sharp took back-to-back penalties in the third period and Jason Garrison scored on the second power play. Chicago still is averaging just 7.6 penalty minutes per game; they can’t afford to allow the Lightning that kind of opportunity again.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY