Canadiens vs Lightning Hockey Odds
The Tampa Bay Lightning host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday evening in game two of their opening round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Montreal won Game 1 in the series in overtime on Wednesday on a goal by Dale Weise, 5-4.
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First-round Game 2
MTL leads series 1-0
Montreal Canadiens (1-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (0-1)
Date: Friday, April 18, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Tampa Bay Times Forum
City: Tampa, Florida
O/U Odds: 5
Money Line: Tampa Bay -108, Montreal +100
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The goal was Weise’s first of the playoffs. Not these playoffs. Rather, it was his first career postseason marker. Weise had just six goals in 61 games during the regular season, and has only 13 goals in 179 career regular season games.
After the game, goaltender Carey Price was far less impressed by that than he was upset with the fact that his team gave away a pair of third period leads. The four goals he surrendered in the team’s opening playoff game are more than he allowed in the entire Sochi Olympics.
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Price finished the regular year tied for third in the NHL in save percentage, but surrendered four goals on the first 14 shots in Game 1 of the postseason. Even still, his team was able to offer him enough run support so as to overcome his subpar performance.
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By the end of the game, Price had racked up 21 saves, stopping nine shots in overtime. At the other end of the ice, Anders Lindback stepped in for an injured Ben Bishop and stopped 39 shots for the Lightning. With Bishop still out indefinitely, all signs point to Lindback continue to hold the reins for the foreseeable future.
Entering the series, it was expected that it would be the Lightning that would control the play. Puck possession has not been a strong point for the Canadiens, while the offensive prowess of the Lightning greatly overshadows that of their opponent in this series.
That wasn’t the case at all in the opener, as it was Montreal that dictated play, and outshot Tampa Bay 44-25 in Game 1. Many of those shots came on good scoring chances for the Canadiens, and the Lightning know that they’ll need to shape up in that area if they are going to come out ahead in Game 2.
The Lightning know they need a bounce back effort in a bad way. With that said, counting heavily on Lindback would not be a great decision.
NHL Playoff Prediction
The Canadien offense clearly has his number, but Carey Price is going to face a barrage of shots from a determined Lightning squad in this one, and there is nothing in his recent history to believe he’ll be up to the task.
The Lightning are 5-1 in their last six games after allowing five or more goals in their previous game.
The over is 3-0-1 in the Canadiens’ last four conference quarterfinals games, and 7-3 in the Lightnings’ last 10 games against Atlantic Division opponents.
The play: Tampa Bay -108, Over 5
