Blackhawks, Lightning well-matched pair in Stanley Cup Final

TAMPA, Fla. – Four games into the Stanley Cup Final, all that's clear is just how little separates the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

These two conference champions have two victories, nine goals and 24 penalty minutes apiece, while Chicago has outshot Tampa Bay 107-104.

Neither team has led by more than one goal at any point in the Final's first four games, which have all been decided by one goal apiece for the first time since 1968 and only the third time in NHL history.

The Lightning stayed overnight in Chicago after Wednesday's 2-1 loss before heading home to prepare for Game 5 on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.

They traveled with the knowledge they missed early opportunities to get Chicago in serious trouble in this series.

"Both teams have elite skill, elite speed. What we lack in their Stanley Cup experience and gold medals at the Olympics, we make up for in our youthful enthusiasm and speed," Lightning associate coach Rick Bowness said Thursday after the team returned to Florida.

"For either one of us to think we're going to go out there and control 60 minutes of the game … I just don't see it happening. There are moments in each of the four games that we were in control of it, and there are moments, like the second period last night, that they were in control of it," Bowness said. "You have to give credit to both teams. "We're not going to let them play their game for 60 minutes. They're not going to let us play our game for 60 minutes. I'm not surprised."

"These guys are way better than anybody imagined at checking and trying to frustrate you, so we're learning that mentality that it might be 2-1 games the rest of the way," Blackhawks forward Brad Richards said.

Although fatigue hardly seems relevant in a series with such high stakes, the Lightning is near the tail end of an historic playoff grind.

In Game 6 back in Chicago on Monday, Tampa Bay will play its 26th postseason game to tie the NHL record held by the 2014 Los Angeles Kings and two other teams.

If the series goes seven games, the Lightning will set a record with 27 playoff games in one postseason.

And the Lightning won't be surprised if the final three are all as close as the first four.