The Vegas Golden Knights face the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Conference Final from T- Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This game kicks off on Monday at 9:00 PM EST from the Fortress. The Habs swept the Winnipeg Jets while the Knights won against the Colorado Avalanche in 6 games. Vegas are favored to win the Stanley Cup with +115 while the Habs are at +1000 according to Pointsbet. Montreal is the biggest underdog this year and they somehow made it to this stage. This series looks one-sided but the Canadiens have a lot in them.
The Habs are surprising every single hockey fan. I didn’t expect them to get past the 2nd Round but now they are in the 3rd Round and are 4 wins away from making it to the final. They flew through the Jets in 4 games and now face a Vegas team which beat the best team in the league. Their goalie Carey Price has been exceptional all playoffs long and are pretty much the reason they are still in the playoffs and are representing the North Division. They have 4 shorthanded goals which is the most by any team in the playoffs. The defense has been great and might be able to get some more shorties in this series. This team has to clear the puck out of their defensive zone when they have the puck and not give it away. The Canadiens biggest challenge is not the team themselves. It is a full house of die-hard fans which the Habs are not used to.
Vegas did a good job of taking advantage of Avalanche mistakes and played gloriously. Fleury gave up some bad goals but otherwise was spectacular in that series. Their “2nd Line” with Smith, Karlsson, and Marchessault. In this team’s franchise, they lead Vegas in points and are a huge part of the playoffs. Stone and Pacioretty signed in 2018 but these 3 have been with Vegas from the start. Pacioretty plays against his former team the Montreal Canadiens where he joined in 2008. Alex Pietrangelo has had a great postseason. He won with St. Louis in 2019 and has been an all-rounder in the playoffs. He provided shots and passes from the blue line area and is always moving around. He is also a superb defenseman. This team were the Stanley Cup runner-ups in 2017-18 which was their 1st season in the NHL, made it to the Conference Final last year and now made it to another ConferenceFinal. It is remarkable.
I believe the Vegas Golden Knights are going to win Game 1 by the score of 5-1. They are confident, hungry for goals, and can break the Habs defense. To be honest, I feel this will be a 4 or 5 game quick series with Vegas winning. I love the Canadiens’ fight but against the Golden Knights, they will collapse. It will be hard to get through Price, but the more shots they get, the more weary he will get and they will break through. I believe Vegas will have full control of this series and make it look easy.
Game 1 of the Conference Final from the Fortress on a Monday night. Can the Montreal Canadiens win in Vegas and confuse them or will the Las Vegas Golden Knights extend their winning streak to 5 games in the playoffs? We will find out on Monday, from America’s Playhouse, Las Vegas.
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