The Tampa Bay Lightning seized control of the Stanley Cup finals by winning Game 3, 3-2, taking a 2-1 lead in the best of seven series.

The game was not quite the offensive battle that was Game 2, but it certainly showed the two teams playing with aggression and a high-flying style that has made this series so entertaining.

With the win, the Lightning are now two wins away from claiming their first Stanley Cup since 2004. Here are three reasons why John Cooper's team is in the lead.

Ben Bishop comes up huge

The Lightning goalie came under ridicule in some circles and generated concern in others for his odd absences in Game 2 of the series. The goalie left the ice twice in Game 3 with an undisclosed injury that to this day remains a mystery. Some thought he could be injured but he started Game 3 and put up a tremendous performance.

In his finest performance of the series, the netminder put up 36 saves on 38 shots and shut down a fierce Chicago charge in the opening 20 minutes. The team came out of the first period tied 1-1 despite having conceded 19 shots on goal. Bishop was excellent throughout the game and, without his performance, Chicago could have easily run away with the game.

He did not always look fully healthy and that will certainly be a major story to follow for the remainder of this series.

Shutting down Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane

During the regular season, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews led the Blackhawks in scoring. Through these playoffs, the dynamic duo has led this team in scoring. In the series against the Anaheim Ducks, Toews put up seven points in seven games while Kane had six points.

In this series that two have combined for one point with Kane yet to find the score sheet.

It has been a frustrating series for the two former Conn Smythe Trophy winners who look unable to get much going. Joel Quenneville has already attempted to break them up to jump start their scoring but in Game 3 it was more of the same with the two registering seven shots on goal but failing to register a single point.

Toews actually had a good game, creating more shot attempts than he allowed, but he simply had poor luck. Kane however was in the negatives in shot attempts created against shot attempts allowed. He has suffered most in this series.

Toews' success in this game had a lot to do with Chicago having the last change. That meant that Cedric Paquette was not out there as often as he had been in the first games of the series. However, Tampa's players handled the situation well and have managed to keep one of the premiere players at bay.

Depth

Toews and Kane have not scored in this serious, but neither has Steven Stamkos; the captain has not registered a point in the last five games and might be back to the form with which he started the playoffs.

However, the team was winning in the playoffs because of depth and that continued to be the case on Monday with goals coming from Ryan Callahan, Paquette and Ondrej Palat.

The triplets of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Palat are back and firing after a poor effort in the series effort, but the offense from Paquette and Callahan is huge at this point in time. Callahan entered the game with just one playoff goal, but he managed to bust the streak with the opener. Paquette scored his third of the postseason and tallied in his second straight game, giving his team a big goal in a big moment.

Chicago was the team that supposedly had more depth, but it is Tampa that is currently winning that battle through three games.