Stars looking to break out in Game 5

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – 8:03 p.m. EDT

There has been little star power during the Stanley Cup Final.

Captain Jonathan Toews (a goal and assist) and Patrick Kane (one assist) have combined for three points for the Blackhawks.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has one assist in his past six games dating to the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.

”Just sticking with it,” Stamkos said. ”Obviously, I expect more from myself. And hopefully it will come out today and help our team win.”

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8:02 p.m.

The first four games of the Stanley Cup Final have been so tight, it is hard to tell who has the edge in play.

Each of the first three games featured two lead changes. Neither team has yet to enjoy a two-goal lead. Each team has scored nine goals.

The first four games were decided by one goal. Should Game 5 be another one-goal margin, it would mark only the second time to happen in the final. Toronto beat Montreal in 1951 in a series in which all five games were decided in overtime.

The Lightning have enjoyed a lead for a little over 92 minutes, while the Blackhawks have had the lead for just over 25 minutes.

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8:01 p.m.

The team which wins Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead is no sure bet in the Stanley Cup Final.

Teams winning the fifth game with the series tied at 2 have gone on to win the championship 16 out of 23 times since 1939, when the final series was expanded to a best-of-seven format.

And yet, of the past seven times the final has been tied at 2, the Game 5 loser has gone on to win the title four times. That includes the Lightning in 2004, when they won Games 6 and 7 to beat the Calgary Flames.

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8 p.m.

Seems as if NBC boss Mark Lazarus has a number of NHL players and fans in a lather over his observations regarding playoff grooming.

”I’ve been nothing but the butt of the joke on Twitter for the last 24 hours,” Lazarus said on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday.

Lazarus got nicked following a remark he made to The Chicago Tribune suggesting NHL players could be more marketable if they were clean-shaven during the playoffs.

Don’t expect the razors to come out until after the Stanley Cup is hoisted, though.

”I think it’s a great part of the playoffs,” Lightning forward Cedric Paquette said this week. ”Maybe for TV is would be a bit better, but for us hockey players, we don’t care.”

The 1980s New York Islanders teams are credited for beginning the beard-growing playoff tradition. However, Willie Plett and several Philadelphia Flyers players wore beards throughout the season in the mid-1970s.

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7:55 p.m.

Goalie Ben Bishop has led the Tampa Bay Lightning onto the ice for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, indicting he will start.

Bishop missed Game 4 and skipped Friday’s practice with an undisclosed injury, but spent 15 minutes on ice during Tampa Bay’s morning skate for Game 5.

The Lightning apparently decided the 53-game winner is healthy enough to play against the Chicago Blackhawks. The series is even at two games apiece.

Bishop said he believes ”there’s progress being made” on the injury. Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy was on the ice as Bishop’s backup after starting Game 4.

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5:30 p.m.

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final isn’t the only Chicago-Tampa Bay matchup taking place in Florida on Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Chicago White Sox met the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

According to research by the Rays’ public relations staff, it’s the first time since May 9, 1971, that a city or market has hosted both a Stanley Cup Final game and a major league game between teams from the same cities on the same day.

That day in Montreal, major league baseball’s Expos defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-3 at Jarry Parc Stadium, and the Canadiens defeated the Blackhawks 4-2 in Game 3 at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens went on to win the series in seven games.

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5:10 p.m.

Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa is playing in his 193rd playoff game Saturday night, which ties the 36-year-old for 22nd place with Craig MacTavish.

”He’s a big part of those reasons that this team is in the finals and has a chance to win here,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. ”I’m fortunate to coach a guy like him because he really sends the right message to play the right way.”

Hossa is second among active players in both playoff points and assists.

”He’s just the ultimate hockey player, the ultimate teammate, the ultimate human being,” Blackhawks star Patrick Kane said. ”He’s a special guy. You look at him, he seems ageless. I love having him around the locker room and I love just being his friend and watching him on the ice too. He’s definitely a privilege to play with.”

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