Things to know about the Stanley Cup finals

LIGHTNING CAPTAIN Steven Stamkos, one of the great young players in the game, pointed out that Chicago's experience and familiarity with each other is the primary reason the Blackhawks are gunning for their third title in six years.

"It's almost like the Harlem Globetrotters out there at times on the ice, the way they can pass it," Stamkos said. "You can see they've played together for a while."

They split a pair of meetings this season, with the home team winning each. Here are 15 more things to know about the Stanley Cup finals, which begin tonight in Tampa:

1 Four of Tyler Johnson's 12 goals this postseason have been game-winners for the Lightning. During the regular season, he had six GWG (out of 29) in 77 games.

2 Johnson was born in Spokane and trails only T.J. Oshie in career goals among players born in the state of Washington.

3 This Dec. 5 will mark the 10th anniversary the Flyers traded Patrick Sharp (and Eric Meloche) to the Blackhawks for Matt Ellison and a third-round pick. Ellison played in seven games for the Flyers, his last in 2006.

4 Stalwart defensemen Duncan Keith (+13), of Chicago, and Tampa's Victor Hedman (+11) are 1-2 in playoff plus/minus.

5 Keith is averaging 31 minutes, 36 seconds in ice time in the postseason. In the Blackhawks' two previous championship seasons, he averaged 28:11 in 2010 and 27:37 in 2013.

6 Since 2009, Chicago is 11-4 in games when they are facing elimination. That's pretty clutch.

7 Tampa Bay is 9-1 in these playoffs when scoring first. Chicago is 9-0.

8 Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews played for new Flyers coach Dave Hakstol at the University of North Dakota.

9 Toews has seven multigoal playoff games in his career. The only guy with more since 2009 is teammate Patrick Kane, who has eight.

10 Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat were two of the three finalists for 2014 rookie of the year, which went to Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon. It was the first time teammates were finalists for the award since Kane and Toews in 2008. Kane won it.

11 Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov scored a goal on his first career NHL shift when he beat Rangers superstar Henrik Lundqvist in 2013.

12 Chicago defenseman Kimmo Timonen was a healthy scratch for the last two games of the conference finals against Anaheim. Too often, Timonen, 40, was roughed up by the larger Ducks forwards.

13 The Lightning play in the Amalie Arena. Amalie is a motor oil company located in Tampa. The Blackhawks play at the United Center, named for the airline.

14 Chicago's Brad Richards is 8-0 in Game 7s in his career. Richards, Glenn Anderson and Ray Bourque are the only players in history with eight wins in Game 7. Tampa Bay's Anton Stralman is 7-0 in Game 7s.

15 Richards' first career Game 7 was a 2-1 win over the Flyers in the 2004 conference finals while he was with Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks forward won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP for the Lightning that year.