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Thumbs up to the last two minutes of last night's fourth game of the Stanley Cup final. That leaves the first 58 minutes.

Not that Chicago cares how dull they were. The Blackhawks are tied in the series because of a pair of 2-1 victories that have seen them perform at a level far from their best.

The bad news for Tampa Bay is that the Lightning have not been able to capitalize on Chicago's sluggishness for more than their two wins, but what's done is done for the Lightning and their hopes now rest with one factor above all others - the health of goalie Ben Bishop. He will either benefit from sitting out last night's game and the two days of rest and treatment  prior to Saturday's fifth game, and return to action, or he's done for the series.

In the latter case, it has to be thumbs down for Tampa's chances. Andrei Vasilevskiy might be able to play well enough to avoid being the reason for a Tampa Bay defeat, but there is nothing to indicate that he can play well enough to be the reason for a Tampa Bay win. Bishop must overcome his injury, because Tampa Bay probably can't overcome his absence.

Maybe it's not that simple. Or maybe it is.

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Not that I'm looking for things to pick on from a Gary Bettman TV interview, but here's one - the NHL commissioner said the following last night as part of an answer that dealt with the possibility of expansion and/or franchise relocation: "Bear in mind we have 14 teams in the Western Conference and 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. I don't know how we would deal with that - I haven't given it any thought."

Gary BettmanThumbs up if you think that's the case. My thumb is down to Gary Bettman if you're right.

But you're not, of course. He knows where Quebec City and Las Vegas and Seattle are, and he knows how the NHL might deal with its geographical imbalance if it felt the time was right to do that, or if the league was forced to do that in conjunction with other developments, such as expansion or relocation.

So why would he say he hasn't given it any thought?

I don't know. He's Gary Bettman?