Stanley Cup Final 2021: Lightning vs. Canadiens odds, NHL picks, Game 1 predictions from proven hockey expert

The Tampa Bay Lightning proceed their bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions on Monday night. The Lightning host the Montreal Canadiens in Sport 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Last, with the groups clashing at Amalie Area in Tampa, Fla.. Tampa Bay outlasted the New York Islanders within the earlier spherical, with Montreal upsetting the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The Canadiens look to interrupt a 28-year drought between titles and so they enter in an underdog function.

William Hill Sportsbook lists Tampa Bay because the -200 residence favourite (danger $200 to win $100) for this 8 p.m. ET puck drop. The whole variety of targets Vegas thinks shall be scored, or the over-under, is 5 within the newest Canadiens vs. Lightning odds. Earlier than making any Lightning vs. Canadiens picks and or NHL predictions, you need to see what SportsLine NHL expert Matt Severance has to say.

Severance is a well-connected author and handicapper who has labored within the trade since 2005. He’s a whopping 173-112 in his final 285 NHL picks, returning $1,850 for the $100 bettor. You must check out what he has to say about Game 1.

Now, Severance has set his sights on Canadiens vs Lightning. You can head to SportsLine to see his picks. Now, listed here are a number of NHL betting traces and developments for Lightning vs Canadiens:

• Canadiens vs. Lightning cash line: Lightning -210, Canadiens +180
• Canadiens vs. Lightning over-under: 5 targets 
• Canadiens vs. Lightning unfold: Lightning -1.5 (+150)
• MON: The Canadiens are 18-12-7 on the street this season 
• TB: The Lightning are 27-10 at residence this season

Featured Sport | Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens

Why the Canadiens can win

Montreal has embraced the underdog moniker, reaching the finals regardless of its No. 16 rating earlier than the playoffs. The Canadiens misplaced their remaining 5 video games of the common season, then fell behind 3-1 in opposition to the Toronto Maple Leafs in spherical one, however they’ve caught hearth with a 13-2 file since that time. 

Montreal is the NHL’s all-time winningest franchise, however this yr’s workforce is particular in quite a lot of areas. The Canadiens have been electrical by way of protection and purpose prevention, together with a glowing 11-0 file within the postseason once they rating a minimum of two targets. Goalie Carey Price has been a star within the playoffs, permitting 2.02 targets per sport and saving 93.4 p.c of tried photographs. 

As an entire, Montreal’s penalty killing has been elite within the postseason, stopping energy performs at a 93.5 p.c clip. They’ve additionally restricted prime scorers from the opposition, and the Canadiens have not allowed an influence play purpose in 13-straight postseason video games, an NHL file. Offensively, Montreal does not have the firepower that Tampa Bay brings, however the Canadiens have a balanced assault and 20-year-old rookie ahead Cole Caufield is breaking out with 4 targets within the earlier collection in opposition to Las Vegas.

Why the Lightning can win

Tampa Bay is the clear favourite, each in Sport 1 and within the collection. The Lightning had been a top-five workforce in myriad classes in the course of the common season, together with power-play effectiveness, penalty-kill charge, targets scored and targets in opposition to. Within the playoffs, that success has continued with the No. 1 purpose differential within the NHL, and so they want to develop into simply the ninth repeat champion in league historical past. The Lightning are a formidable 14-0 after a loss throughout the final two postseasons, and they’re a top-two workforce within the NHL in each targets scored (3.22 per sport) and targets allowed (2.06 per sport) within the playoffs.

Tampa Bay additionally advantages not solely from home-ice benefit but in addition from an fascinating personnel growth for Montreal. Canadiens ahead Joel Armia simply cleared the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and is a game-time resolution as he rushes to Tampa Bay for the puck drop. Nonetheless, the Lightning are the superior workforce on paper even with Armia on the ice for Montreal, particularly if goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy continues to permit fewer than two targets per sport as he has in the course of the workforce’s postseason run.

Methods to make Canadiens vs. Lightning picks

Severance goes below on complete targets scored. He is additionally discovered an x-factor that has him leaping throughout one facet of the cash line in Sport 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals. You can see his Stanley Cup Finals 2021 expert picks only on SportsLine. 

So who wins Canadiens vs. Lightning? And what x-factor makes one facet of the cash line an enormous worth? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Canadiens vs. Lightning matchup you need to jump on Monday, all from the expert that has crushed his NHL picks, and discover out.