By Jordan Long
The Stanley Cup Final starts tonight with puck drop for game 1 at 6:00 PM Mountain Time as Tampa Bay faces the Montreal Canadians. The Tampa Bay Lightning will host games 1 and 2. The series shifts to Montreal for game 3 which is on Friday. Tampa Bay is seeking to win back-to-back Cups and if they do they will be the first team to do so since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017. For Montreal, they haven’t won it all since 1993. Let’s take a look at how both teams got to this point and the keys for the series.
Montreal ended the regular season at 24-21-11 for 59 points. Out of all the playoff teams, that was the least amount of wins and points. They faced Toronto in the first round. It took 7 games but they outlasted them in game 7 by the score of 3-1. In the 2nd round, Montreal took care of the Winnipeg Jets by sweeping them. In the semifinal round, Vegas was their opponent. Vegas was heavily favored to win the series but that didn’t matter as Montreal beat them in 6 games.
For Tampa Bay, they had a target on their back all season. They were the defending champions. Tampa Bay finished the year at 36-17-3 for 75 points. In the first round, they knocked off the Florida Panthers in 6 games. In the second round, the Carolina Hurricanes were no match for them as that series ended in 5. In the semifinal round, it took Tampa Bay 7 games to defeat the New York Islanders.
Both teams couldn’t have done it without their goaltenders. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, their starting goaltender is Andrei Vasilevskiy. In these playoffs, he has been outstanding for Tampa Bay. His record is 12-6 with a goals against average of 1.99 and a save percentage of .936. On the other side, Montreal goes with Carey Price. Price is 12-5 in the postseason with a goals against average of 2.02 and a save percentage of .934. Both of these goaltenders see the puck well. They don’t allow many rebound chances. It takes a great shot or a screen for the puck to enter the net.
On offense, Tampa Bay has the edge. They have scored 3.80 goals per game this postseason. They have plenty of scoring power with forwards Brayden Point, Alex Killorn, Steven Stamkos, and Nikita Kucherov. On defense, Victor Hedman will set up his teammates from the blue line by shooting the puck on net or finding a teammate for a scoring chance.
Montreal can also light the lamp. Montreal averages 2.53 goals per game in the postseason. Their scoring is more balanced. Forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli, and Corey Perry among others can find the back of the net. They don’t rely on their defensemen as much to set up the play.
Special teams are going to dictate the series. Tampa Bay’s power play is way too good. They can set it up and fire the puck. Those are scoring opportunities for Tampa Bay. More times than not, Tampa Bay will take advantage. They have scored 37.7% on the man advantage. Montreal’s power play isn’t as good as Tampa Bay but it is still dangerous. Montreal’s power play is at 20.9%.
The power play kill advantage is to Montreal. When they take a penalty, they usually kill it off. They don’t permit the other team to set up. They use their sticks to poke check the puck so they can take away it and fire it to the other end of the ice. Even when teams set up, Montreal blocks shots or Price will save it. They have killed off 93.5% of their penalties. Tampa Bay’s power play kill will try to do the same thing as Montreal. They haven’t killed off as many at 83%.
This is a pretty evenly matched series. Both teams know how to score and play defense. Even when a team is down by a goal or two, the game isn’t over. This should be a great series to watch and it go at least 6 or even 7 games. Tampa Bay is favored to win, but Montreal will have something to say. In the end, Tampa Bay is the pick to repeat as champions in a long series.
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