Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Colorado Avalanche (6/24/22) Betting Odds, Prediction, Line Combination, Starting Goalies
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Colorado center Nazem Kadri, who’d been out of the lineup the past four games due to hand surgery, scored 12:02 into overtime: his seventh goal of the 2022 postseason, giving the Avalanche a 3-2 road victory over the Lightning, putting Colorado on a brink of winning the Stanley Cup. Andrew Cogliano scored a goal while Darcy Kuemper made 37 in the Avalanche’s victory. In a losing effort for the Lightning, Anthony Cirelli scored a goal while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves for Tampa Bay, whose eight-game home winning streak ended.
The Lightning have won the last two Stanley Cups and listed at +800 to win their third consecutive championship, despite being down 3-1 in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. The last team to win at least three consecutive titles was the New York Islanders who won four straight Stanley Cups from 1979-80 through 1982-83; winning an unbelievable 19 consecutive playoff series, the Lightning have won 11 straight series.
One win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup as 2022 champions, Colorado is -1200 to win the Stanley Cup; the Avalanche have won two titles since moving from Quebec as the Nordiques to Colorado in 1995; their last one being in 2001 when they beat the New Jersey Devils.
Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Colorado Avalanche Betting Odds
The Lightning are 4-1 in their last five games as a road underdog. Under is 7-2 in Tampa Bay’s last nine playoff games as an underdog. The Lightning are 9-4 in their last 13 Stanley Cup Finals games. Over is 4-1-1 in Tampa Bay’s last 6 Stanley Cup Finals games. The home team is 4-1 in the last five meetings between the Lightning and Avalanche. Colorado is 5-1 in their last six Stanley Cup Finals games. Under is 4-1-2 in the Avalanche’s last seven Stanley Cup Finals games. Colorado is 44-14 in their last 58 games following a win. Over is 7-3 in the Avalanche’s last 10 playoff games as a favorite.
Tampa Bay Lightning Analysis
Nikita Kucherov was the Lightning third leading scorer with 69 points (25 goals and 44 assists) despite playing in only 47 regular season games in 2022. The 2018-19 Hart Trophy winner is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer in the playoffs with 26 points (seven goals and 19 assists). In four Stanley Cup Final games this season, Tampa Bay’s number 86 has three assists. Kucherov is +3000 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP this season.
Ondrej Palat has 19 points during the postseason this campaign; his 10 goals are tied for first on the club and second on Tampa Bay in playoff scoring. Per NHL.com, he’s the first player in NHL history to score multiple game-winning goals during the final two minutes of regulation in a single postseason. Steven Stamkos led the team in goals with 42 and points with 106 points during the regular season. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has 17 points (10 goals and seven assists) in 21 playoff contests this year; he’s tied for first on the team in goals and fourth on the team in postseason scoring. Veteran Corey Perry has nine points (six goals and three assists) during the clubs’ playoff run this season.
Victor Hedman was the second leading scorer for Tampa Bay in 2021-22 with 85 points (20 goals and 65 assists). The 2017-18 Norris Trophy winner is third on the Lightning in postseason scoring with 18 points, he scored his third goal of the playoffs in Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. Additionally, Hedman is averaging 24:39 of ice time per playoff contest in 2022.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner was 39-18-5 with a 2.49 GAA in 63 games this season. Through the first four games of the 2022 Stanley Final, Tampa Bay’s number 88 has made 128 saves on 144 shot attempts. Through 21 playoff games this year, he’s 13-8 with a .920 save percentage and a 2.57 GAA. The 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner is +2000 to repeat as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
Colorado Avalanche Analysis
Darcy Kuemper has made 90 saves on 100 shot attempts in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, despite struggling in the third game of the series. In 14 postseason games overall, the 31-year-old goalie has a save percentage of .898 with a 2.66 GAA. Additionally, in Game 4, Kuemper became the first goalie in NHL history to get an assist on an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Final, per NHL.com.
Cale Makar leads all NHL defensemen in postseason scoring this season with 27 points (seven goals and 20 assists). Additionally, in 18 playoff games this year, he’s a +8 while averaging 27:10 of ice time per contest in the postseason. At -600 he’s the favorite to win the 2022 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Devon Toews is a +6 while averaging 25:54 of ice time per game in this postseason. Toews has 14 points (five goals and nine assists) as the Avalanche are one win away from winning the Stanley Cup.
Mikko Rantanen led Colorado in scoring this season with 92 points (36 goals and 56 assists) while being an impressive +35. Through 18 playoff games in 2021-22, he has 25 points (five goals and 20 assists); second on the Avalanche in postseason scoring. Through four Stanley Cup Final games this season, he has eight assists. Rantanen is +1200 to win the Conn Smythe Award. Nathan MacKinnon is +500 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. The center leads Colorado in goals (12) and tied for third on the team with 21 points this postseason. MacKinnon scored a goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, overall, in the series he has three points. Gabriel Landeskog has tallied 21 points (11 goals and 10 assists) in 18 postseason games in 2022; tied for third in playoff scoring on the Avalanche. The Colorado captain is currently +2000 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Valeri Nichushkin has four points (three goals and one assist) in the Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning. He has 13 points (eight goals and five assists) in 18 games in the postseason.
Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Colorado Avalanche Picks & Prediction
Tampa Bay has scored 63 goals this postseason: averaging three goals per game, scoring 11 goals in four Stanley Cup Final games this season. The Lightning are 13-5 in their last 18 playoff games as an underdog. Under is 7-3 in Tampa Bay’s last 10 games as an underdog. The favorite is 19-7 in the last 26 meetings between the clubs. In the first four games of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche have scored 16 goals (including overtime); averaging four goals per contest. Colorado is 36-15 in their last 51 playoff games as a favorite. Over is 4-1 in the Avalanche’s last five games as a home favorite.
Like I’ve said before in other Stanley Cup Final previews, Colorado is the best skating team I’ve seen since the Chicago Blackhawk championship teams of the mid-2010’s, they transition quickly from defense to offense quickly (and vice versa) using their speed, exquisite passing, and hockey sense. The Stanley Cup “will be in the house” and I expect the atmosphere at Ball Arena will be rocking on Friday night. The Avalanche winning on the road in Game 4 was absolutely as they can close out the series with a win in Game 5. Colorado is a deeper and quicker team and I look for them to get the job done in the fifth game of the series winning 4-2; the Avalanche cover the 1.5 goal spread, but the teams do not combine to go over six goals. Gary Bettman will hand the Stanley Cup to Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog and the party will be on in Denver.
Tampa Bay Lightning Vs. Colorado Avalanche Starting Goalies & Line Combination
