The Lightning entered the 2014–15 season with major re-signings during the offseason including centre Tyler Johnson, wingers Ryan Callahan and Ondrej Palat, and goalie Ben Bishop.

In free agency, Tampa Bay picked up centre Brian Boyle and defenceman Anton Stralman from the New York Rangers and Brenden Morrow from the St. Louis Blues.

[7] Early in the season, Head Coach Jon Cooper nicknamed the team's second line of Johnson, Palat and winger Nikita Kucherov as the "Triplets" because they were so in sync;[8] at the mid-season in January, the three players led the League in plus-minus.

The Blackhawks entered the 2014 offseason after being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals in seven games by the eventual 2014 Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

Goalie Corey Crawford tied the Canadiens' Carey Price as the William M. Jennings Trophy recipient for allowing a league-low 189 goals during the regular season.

The Lightning nursed the lead into the third period with a strong conservative defensive effort, but Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored 118 seconds apart to win the game 2–1 for the Blackhawks.

Jason Garrison's power play goal at 8:49 of the third period proved to be the difference in Tampa Bay's victory in Game 2.

Lightning starting goaltender Ben Bishop had left the game moments earlier for reasons that were undisclosed at the time, but was later revealed to be a torn groin.

In the third period, Brandon Saad gave Chicago its first lead at 4:14, but Tampa Bay countered on the next shift on a goal by Ondrej Palat to tie the score once again.

Late in the third period, Victor Hedman led a rush down ice for Tampa Bay and passed to Cedric Paquette who scored to put the Lightning ahead again.

The Lightning chose to rest injured goaltender Ben Bishop for Game 4 in favor of rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The game's pace picked up as the Lightning tried to tie the score but the Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made several outstanding saves to shut out Tampa Bay the rest of the way.

The Blackhawks scored first for the second consecutive game, this time on a miscue by Bishop and Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman.

In the third period, the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane scored on a pass from Brad Richards and play by Brandon Saad to put the 'Hawks ahead 2–0, the first two-goal lead of the series.

Game 6, facing competition from a Team Canada match in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the Toronto Blue Jays (which had seen increased ratings due to a long winning streak), was the lowest-rated deciding NHL playoff game on Canadian television since the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.