Lightning v Canadiens: Game 2 Stanley Cup Finals
Dave Carney 6/30/2021
What’s on the table today?: NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game 2: Tampa Bay Lightning (-200) vs Montreal Canadiens (+175) / total goals 5
Tonight the Montreal Canadiens will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for game two of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Montreal lost game one of the Stanley Cup Finals 5-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ben Chiarot scored the lone goal for the Canadiens. Carey Price allowed five goals on 27 shots faced. The Canadiens (12-6) were beaten just for the third time in their past 14 contests.
Playing in their first Final since 1993, when the team lifted its most recent trophy, the Habs killed two of their three penalties and forced the hosts to block 15 attempts, but were outshot 27-19 and went 0-for-2 during power play, ultimately lighting the lamp just once.
The Canadiens lost Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Semifinals matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights with a count of 4-1 on the road before winning four of five subsequent outings. But don’t get your hopes up too high for a similar scenario against the Lightning! The reigning Stanley Cup champions ooze consistency, quality and the sort of experience only playing regularly at the highest level can guarantee.
After missing the whole regular campaign due to hip surgery in late December, Nikita Kucherov has been on absolute fire this postseason for the Bolts, currently sitting just four points away from matching his franchise-leading 34-point total of last year’s playoffs. Tampa Bay has never lost Game 2 in any of its previous three appearances in the Stanley Cup Final.
The team is an impressive 7-0 in its most recent seven domestic meetings with the Canadiens, beating the Habs by a margin of at least two strikes in four of those games, and has triumphed by more than one snipe in five of its previous seven victories. Another heavy loss for Montreal is looming large!
My prediction: take Tampa Bay (-200) on the moneyline.
**For more info on TOTAL plays, OVER/UNDER, and PLUS/MINUS plays, TEASER cards and more, check back through some previous columns for detailed information**
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