Chicago Blackhawks able to avoid injury bug

It's almost over.

The long, icy road that is the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs that has led to exhausted, exhilarated and excited players and fans is about to come to an end.

The Hawks own a 3-2 series lead over the Lightning with Game 6 set at the United Center on Monday at 7 p.m. Game 7, if necessary, is Wednesday in Tampa.

Players from both teams were asked Sunday if the experience has flown by or has been an out-and-out grind.

“I think it goes by real quick as you're doing it,” Brad Richards said. “(But) if you actually think back, think like, ‘Wow, we played Nashville at one point, that was a long time ago.'

“As you're going through it, it's the time of your life. There's no better journey.”

Said Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos: “It's been a pretty long grind. Feels like the first series was last year.”

To get this far, it helps to have a little luck, and that certainly was the case Saturday when Lightning goalie Ben Bishop collided with Victor Hedman, which gift-wrapped a first-period goal for Patrick Sharp.

Much of the Hawks' good fortunes, though, has to do with their opponents' best players getting injured while — other than losing defenseman Michal Rozsival — the Hawks basically have been injury free.

• The other teams' run of bad luck began almost right away when Nashville lost do-everything defenseman Shea Weber for Games 3-6 and top-six forward Mike Fisher for Games 2-4 in the first round.

• In the Western semis, Minnesota lost starters Justin Fontaine for Games 2-4 and Chris Stewart for Games 3 and 4.

• Then, of course, there are Tampa Bay's issues. The Ben Bishop saga has filled reporters' tape recorders since Game 1, but truth be told that soap opera hasn't really affected the Final as much as we thought it would.

The injury that really threatens to end the Lightning's season came when Nikita Kucherov got hurt early in Game 5. Kucherov, a huge part of the supercharged Triplets Line, missed most of that game and his status for Game 6 is up in the air.

But just think about that injury for a second. Corey Crawford's one bad play Saturday — when he almost gave a goal to Kucherov — turned into a huge advantage for the Hawks because as Crawford made the save he sent Kucherov sailing into the left post.

• The final part of injury luck actually involves the Hawks and came just a day before the postseason began when the team announced Patrick Kane (broken clavicle) would return a month early. Kane hasn't been his best in the Final, but he registered 7 goals and 6 assists in the first two rounds.

Do the Hawks beat Nashville without him? It's a fair question, but one Hawks fans are glad they don't have to answer.

For his part, Jonathan Toews credits how the Hawks prepare as to why they've stayed so healthy.

“We have guys … that know how to prepare, know the right things to do to make things easier on themselves (during the grind),” Toews said. “You're doing everything you can to keep your body going. … When you don't treat your body the right way, you don't recover the right way, eventually those injuries, bumps and bruises become pretty serious.”

The spate of injuries suffered by the Hawks' foes is to take nothing away from what they've done on the ice in eliminating three tough Western Conference teams and overcoming a 2-1 deficit to Tampa Bay in the Final.

They've done it with a defensive mindset but also have come up with the big goal almost every time they needed it.

Depth is key as well. Coach Joel Quenneville hasn't had to tap into it much due to injuries. Instead, he's able to use it to help with matchups and to send a message that mediocre play will not be tolerated.

Quenneville pointed to big contributions in Game 5 by Kris Versteeg and Antoine Vermette — both of whom have been healthy scratches numerous times this postseason — as examples of why depth is so important.

“That's part of finding your way through,” Quenneville said. “That's what makes it so challenging trying to win. It's not easy.”

A month ago, Hawks legend Denis Savard marveled at what the Hawks' core has accomplished.

“It's hard,” Savard said. “It's such a special trophy to achieve.

“You gotta earn it. The team that survives — that's pretty much it. You've got to be the better team somewhat — gotta have some luck.

“But it's the team that has the will to survive that at the end of the day wins it.”