Steven Stamkos leaves Lightning coach feeling ‘sick’ over Game 6

CHICAGO – Steven Stamkos was alone.

Alone with Corey Crawford, the Chicago Blackhawks’ goaltender, and with ample time to find a way to put a puck past him for the first time all series. Stamkos had played a hell of a Game 6 – flying around the ice, creating chances, ringing a puck off the crossbar behind Crawford in the first period. And now, he was alone, puck on his stick, a chance to give his team the lead.

Had he lifted the puck over Crawford’s pad, perhaps Game 6 turns out differently. Perhaps we’re talking about a Game 7 on Wednesday instead of a third Blackhawks’ Cup in six years.

But he didn’t.

“I mean, [he's] one of the best shooters in the league, I just tried to stay patient and let him make the first move and I just got a pad out there,” said Crawford.

Stamkos finished Game 6 with one shot on goal and three misses. For the series, he had 13 shots on goal – five of them in Game 1 – with one assist and a minus-1.

Although he had 7 goals and 11 assists in 26 playoff games, the Lightning’s biggest star was a non-factor on the biggest stage.

“I felt sick for him,” said coach Jon Cooper. “Early in the game, he was feeling it tonight. You could see, he had his legs moving.  When he rang that one off the crossbar, I just felt for him.  That's just kind of how his series went. Wasn't for lack of effort. The kid was trying.”

Like other great NHL snipers, Stamkos scores his share of goals on the power play, having tallied 13 of his 43 goals there in the regular season.

His inability to hit the score sheet contributed to the Lightning going 1-for-13 on the man advantage for the series. But Stamkos and the Bolts only earned two power plays in Games 5 and 6, both losses to Chicago.

“You've got to feel for him because I know he's going to put a bunch of weight on his shoulders of why we didn't score,” he said.

And he did.

Stamkos sat alone in his stall, contemplating the opportunity lost in the Stanley Cup Final, where the Lightning generated just two goals in the last three games.

“We came here to win this and we didn’t. Right now, it feels like we didn’t get the job done. I feel like I didn’t produce here. Who knows what could have happened if I get a few in this series?” he said. “It’s really hard to think of any positives right now.”

The Lightning are, of course, a team very much on the rise. Stamkos is just 25. Victor Hedman, their star defenseman, is 24. The Triplets Line, knocked off track in the Final thanks to a broken wrist for Tyler Johnson, are all under 25.

But Stamkos knows there’s a difference between seeming like a team that can get back to the Stanley Cup Final and actually doing so. Especially when it’s faced with serious questions like “what is Steven Stamkos going to do since his contract is up next summer?”

You know, little questions like that … that can change the course of your franchise.

“When you never know when you’re going to get this opportunity again, and you let it slip through your fingers, the only real thing you have on your mind is that you haven’t gotten the job done,” Stamkos said.

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