Stanley Cup Finals Betting - Avalanche vs. Lightning Odds

2022 NHL Stanley Cup Final Betting

The 2022 Stanley Cup Final was expected to be a great matchup and in Game 1 we got a great show, as the Colorado Avalanche won 4-3 in overtime against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Game 2 was not competitive at all, as the Avalanche rolled to a 7-0 win. The Lightning now head home to Tampa where they simply have to win Game 3 on Monday to have a chance to make this a series. Tampa has been resilient in the past and they are in the exact same situation they were in the Eastern Conference Final when they lost the first two games in New York. Tampa rallied to win the next four games of that series to reach the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. Stanley Cup betting odds have Game 3 listed as a pick with a total of 6.

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2022 NHL Stanley Cup Finals

Colorado Avalanche vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Game 1: Colorado 4, Tampa Bay 3 (OT)

Game 2: Colorado 7, Tampa Bay 0

Game 3: Tampa Bay 6, Colorado 2

Game 4: Colorado 3, Tampa Bay 2 (OT)

Game 5: Tampa Bay 3, Colorado 2

Game 6: Colorado 2, Tampa Bay 1

Colorado wins NHL Stanley Cup Finals 4-2

The Lightning were able to rally past Toronto in Round 1 and then rally again to defeat New York in the Eastern Final, but rallying against a powerhouse Colorado team will not be easy. If Tampa is to have any chance to make it three straight titles, they have to find a way to win Game 3. The odds for Game 3 are listed as a pick, so oddsmakers are not sure what to expect. If you still believe in the Lightning, you can get nearly +500 on Tampa to win the best-of-seven game series before Game 3 begins on Monday night.

Colorado finished with 119 points this season and had the best record in the Western Conference. Tampa Bay finished with 110 points and finished in third place in the Atlantic Division. Colorado rolled through their playoff opponents, dispatching of Nashville in four games, St. Louis in six games and Edmonton in four games. The Lightning had to go seven games to beat Toronto, swept Florida in four straight and took out the Rangers in six games. Colorado was listed as a -170 favorite in Stanley Cup Final odds to win the series against Tampa Bay before it began.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche scored 3.8 goals per game during the regular season which was 4th-best in the league. They were 7th on the power play and 15th in penalty killing. They gave up 2.8 goals per game which was 9th in the league. Although Nathan McKinnon is thought of as the top player for Colorado, Mikko Rantanen actually led the team in points this season with 109. Devon Toews led the team in plus/minus at +61.  Darcy Kuemper led the team with 43 wins.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning were 8th in the league in goals per game at 3.5 per contest. They were 8th in the league on the power play and 11th in penalty killing. Steven Stamkos led the team with 121 points, while Viktor Hedman lead the team in plus/minus at +29. Andrei Vasilevskiy led the team with 51 wins. Tampa is looking to become the first team to win three straight Stanley Cups since the Islanders in the early 1980’s.

Season Series

Colorado won both regular-season games against the Lightning and each game was close. The Avalanche won 3-2 at home and 4-3 in Tampa. Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and one assist, while Nathan MacKinnon had one goal and two assists in the two games. Goalie Darcy Kuemper was 2-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average in the two games. Forward Brayden Point led the Lightning with three points, while forwards Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat each had two points. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was 0-1-1 with a 2.96 goals-against average in the two games.

Players to Watch

The Avalanche are led by MacKinnon who has 18 points in 14 playoff games. He has 11 goals, five of which were on the power play. On the other side, Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 23 points in 17 playoff games.  Also keep an eye on the status of Brayden Point for Tampa Bay. He has not played since Game 7 of the first round, but head coach Jon Cooper said it is "extremely probable" that Point plays in this series.

Goaltending

If Colorado is going to win this series they need the goaltending matchup to be somewhat close. Kuemper missed the final three games of the conference final due to injury, but he is available. It will be interesting to see who the Avalanche start in Game 1. Pavel Francouz was very good in the series against Edmonton. Kuemper is 6-2 with a 2.65 GAA and .897 save percentage in the playoffs, while Francouz is 6-0 with a 2.86 GAA, .906 save percentage and one shutout in six games (four starts).

Tampa has the definite edge in goal, as they have Vasilevskiy who is 12-5-0 with a 2.27 GAA, .928 save percentage and one shutout in 17 games. Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy last year. He is 61-34 with a 2.24 GAA, .925 save percentage and seven shutouts in 98 career playoff games.

NHL Stanley Cup Winners (2000)

The Stanley Cup was originally a Challenge Cup rather than a cup awarded at the end of a particular season or series. The first winners were the Montreal Hockey Club in 1893, and they "defended" their Cup in 1894 against Ottawa HC. The Cup changed hands periodically, including multiple times in several years. It wasn't until 1915 that the Stanley Cup became an official "League vs. League" championship series, the first of which was won by the PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires. The Montreal Canadiens won their first Stanley Cup in 1916, becoming the first NHA team to win it in this format.

In 1927, the NHL became the sole holder of the Stanley Cup, and the idea of different leagues "challenging" the NHL went out the window once and for all.

The format of the Stanley Cup Finals hasn't always been the best-of-seven series we're used to today. In the 1920s, this was a "first to two wins" format, though it switched to best-of-five in the 1930s. In 1939, the Boston Bruins won the first-ever best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals by beating the Maple Leafs, and that format has remained the same ever since.

NHL Stanley Cup Results By Team

NHL franchises have had some odd histories for sure, and that makes this chart a little skewed if you're a hockey history buff. The Ottawa Senators, for example, have won the Stanley Cup in the past. But the team that won the Cup in the 1920s folded before the advent of the new Ottawa Senators, who have only been to the Stanley Cup Finals once and have never won it.

Not surprisingly, there's a massive monopoly on the Stanley Cup, as Montreal, Toronto and Detroit have won 48 Cups between them, while no one else in the NHL has hoisted Lord Stanley's trophy more than six times. Is the field catching up? Sure.

Chicago, for example, has won three Cups since 2010 and looks poised for more in the near future, while Pittsburgh has won it four times since 2008, including becoming the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings in 2016 and 2017. With the parity in hockey though, it's becoming tougher and tougher to go on a huge run like we saw out of the Canadiens in the 1960s and 1970 or the Maple Leafs in the 1930s and 1940s.

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