The Stanley Cup Final is ready to go as the heavy underdogs, Montreal Canadiens face the defending champions the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Habs Artturi Lehkonen scored in Overtime to upset the Golden Knights in 6 games while Yanni Gourde scored the series winning goal shorthanded vs the Isles in Game 7 to win 1-0. The Bolts are trying to repeat being Champions as Montreal’s goal is to complete their underdog story and lift the Cup for the 1st time since 1993. Game 1 kicks off on a Monday night at 8:00 PM EST from Amalie Arena in Tampa.
The Habs story is tremendously tremendous as Eddie Olczyk would say. They weren’t expected to make it past the 1st round by here they are, holding their heads tall as Stanley Cup finalists. They are a hard checking team when those big 4 defenseman lead them. They give no room and it is hard to play against them. They shut down important players like Mark Stone who had 0 points in that series so you expect them to do the same to Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. Carey Price has been absolutely rock solid in the playoffs and would probably win the Vezina Trophy if it were for the playoffs. He has kept his team in games when they are struggling and this moment must mean a lot to him. Every player on the ice is making a difference for them. From Philip Danault winning faceoffs to Cole Caufield scoring goals, they all make an impact in their success. I expect physical hockey from the Habs and if they can take Game 1 in a thundering arena.
The Lightning are 4 games from keeping the Cup for another year. Their defenseman in game 7 played amazing. Ryan McDonagh set up the game winning goal with a great defensive play and had patience to find an open teammate. Their defenseman blocked a load of shots which kept their goaltender not tested much. Point had a great series vs New York and he will most likely have another bright series vs the Habs. Jon Cooper has built his top line to exceed expectations and they just have done that throughout the course of the playoffs. It is a great defensive team as it is offensive which helps balance things. To win this game, the Bolts have to get past the Habs defense which will be tough but Kucherov, Stamkos, and Point will push. The fans in Tampa love the winning from of each sport, the Lightning winning, the Rays being runner ups, and the Buc’s being Super Bowl champions. They are close to another win in their quest for the back to back.
I believe the Tampa Bay Lightning will win Game 1 by the score of 4-2. It is a new opponent, new offense to look at for the Canadiens top stop and Game 1 will be a loss as they will try to settle down and get used to Tampa. I think the Habs are going to win in Game 2 though. The crowd noise was electric in Game 7 and it will be louder for the 1st game vs the 24 time Stanley Cup champions. The Bolts will be fresh after their huge win against Barry Trotz’s team and will be pumped up.
A battle worth watching in this series will be the Tampa Bay top 3 vs the Habs big 4 defensemen. Can the Montreal Canadiens’s veterans like Corey Perry, Jeff Petry, and Shea Weber lead the young guys like Nick Suzuki to a Game 1 victory or will the Tampa Bay Lightning take Game 1 in front of their fans? We will find out on Monday night from Florida where the Canadiens will face another tough crowd.
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