Matt Carle says Lightning will 'try to tire out' Duncan Keith

The Tampa Bay Lightning's task may be an impossible one.

The Lightning will try to exhaust Duncan Keith in the Stanley Cup Final, defenseman Matt Carle told Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.

"You watch him play and he skates pretty effortlessly, but you've got to think it's been taking a toll on his body," Carle said of the Chicago Blackhawks star defenseman. "He's not the biggest guy in the world. It's not like it's Chris Pronger playing 30 minutes a night where he's cruising around. He competes hard ... As much as Anaheim did and every team that he's played against, I'm sure we're going to try to make him work as much as possible, try to tire him out as much as we can."

Keith, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, has logged an average 31:36 of ice time for the Chicago Blackhawks in the postseason. Carle believes the Lightning's blue-line depth will help them outplay the Blackhawks' defense corps, especially with Chicago mainly running a rotation of four defensemen.

"We know we don't have to rely on any one pair or one guy to be logging 30 minutes a night," said Carle. "We knew that the further we went in the playoffs, the more that would be to our advantage, guys not getting worn out. It's been working out for us and it's on our GM Steve Yzerman to see that and make that happen for us."