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There are four defencemen from Sweden competing in the Stanley Cup final. Two of them were on the Swedish Olympic team in Sochi last year.

Nothing against those two - Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya - but just as it was asked at the time, what were those in charge thinking when they decided not to put Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman on the team? And it can certainly be asked now, why wasn't there a place for Anton Stralman of the Lightning as well?

For the record, Hjalmarsson and Oduya were joined on Sweden's blueline corps by Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Erik Karlsson, Alex Edler, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Henrik Tallinder. As with the Chicago players, there is no intention to disparage any of the other six, but Hedman and Stralman have been so good for Tampa Bay that you wouldn't go wrong by giving them the first two spots if the team could be selected again.

Thumbs up to Hedman's dominant performance last night, which should put him in the Conn Smythe Trophy conversation if he wasn't there already. And if an unsung hero award existed, Stralman would be a quick and easy choice. Irony creeps into this discussion about Swedish defencemen.

It may be that Tampa Bay's biggest edge in its quest for two more wins is on defence, with Hedman and Stralman leading the way, and with Chicago thin to begin, and perhaps down a man to only three regulars because of an injury to … Johnny Oduya.

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And still with injuries … the story of the Stanley Cup final so far is Ben Bishop. We now know he was hampered by an injury of some sort and unable to finish Game 2 because of it. He was bothered by it in game three, seemingly unable to move as quickly or as well as usual, but he was good for 60 minutes and the win that gave back home-ice advantage to the Lightning.

Joel QuennevilleWith that being the case and Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane unable to get on track for Chicago, there is hardly a reason for the Blackhawks to be optimistic.

But there is a bit of a bright side. The Hawks ought to tell themselves how lucky they are to have a chance to tie the series tomorrow night. Tampa Bay deserves to be up 3-0. Chicago "stole" the first game, as it were, with the two third-period goals less than two minutes apart.

It takes four wins to capture the Stanley Cup, and Chicago has a lot of work to do to get three more, but if that ever happens, the first victory will be as important as any. Not quite a reason to look at what lies ahead and say "thumbs up", but except for that, the Hawks are now almost out. Because of it, they are simply down.