Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Stanley Cup Finals are set to begin on Wednesday night, and it will be the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final series. Colorado has been the best team in the playoffs up to this point, but the first team to four wins captures the Cup. 

Tampa Bay is looking for a third straight Stanley Cup Finals win, which is almost unheard of in today’s NHL. The Lightning were able to win four straight games to get past the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Colorado has had a long layoff after sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals. The Avalanche have gone 12-2 through the first 14 games of the postseason, and they have had little issues. 

The Colorado Avalanche are the moneyline betting favorites at -157 over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1. 

Lightning Need to Limit Chances

If the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to be successful in this series, then they will have to dominate the puck. Tampa Bay wants to win games by scoring three goals or less, and that would require great play from goaltender Andrei Vasilevksiy. 

Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy award a season ago, and he has given up less than three goals per game so far in the postseason. Tampa Bay has a ton of experience, and they will need to be solid on the penalty kill.

Nikita Kucherov will be looking to lead on the offensive end as he has scored 23 points in the playoffs. Tampa Bay doesn’t want to play fast, but it might be required by Colorado.

Avalanche Can Really Score

The Colorado Avalanche are scoring over four goals per game, and they put on an offensive show in the Western Conference Finals. Colorado is led by Nathan MacKinnon, and he has 11 postseason goals. 

This power play has been nearly unstoppable so far in the playoffs as they score close to 30 percent of the time. Colorado will speed up the tempo in this game, and they are a nightmare to stop when they get rolling. 

Colorado has gotten great play from goaltender Darcy Kuemper as well, and he will be another key in this series. The Avalanche will have to play some sort of defense to keep the Lightning from taking over.

Colorado Tames Lightning in Game 1

Tampa Bay is not going to make things easy on Colorado in this series, and they could pick up a win on the road at some point. Colorado could show some rust to begin Game 1, but it doesn’t take this team long to get rolling.

The Lightning just don’t have enough offense to keep up with the Avalanche, and few teams can stop Colorado. That talent is going to show up at some point, and Colorado is going to break through with enough offense to win. 

This is a matchup that NHL fans wanted, and it should turn into a terrific showdown. This game will be tight, but taking the Colorado Avalanche -157 is the right play in this game.

Prop Picks

Colorado (+100) OVER 3.5 Goals

Colorado is averaging 3.8 goals per game on offense, which ranks No. 4 in the league, while converting 24.0 percent of its power play opportunities, which ranks No. 7. Scores have gone OVER in four of the Avalanche’s last five games versus the Lightning.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado victory by the score of 4-3, take the Avalanche (+100) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 3.5 goals against Tampa Bay.

Mikko Rantanen (-115) OVER 0.5 Assists

Rantanen had 56 assists in 75 games during the regular season, which was tied for No. 3 on the Avalanche. The veteran right wing has added 12 assists in 14 games during the postseason, which ranks No. 2 on the Avalanche.

With Dunkel predicting a Colorado victory while going OVER its Vegas goal total, take Rantanen (-115) to finish OVER 0.5 assists against the Lightning.

Keep up with your latest NHL news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.

All Media on this page by Associated Press.