The 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Finals begins monday night as the Montreal Canadiens take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 2020 NHL Champions the Tampa Bay Lightning has the chance to defend the title as they appear in the finals for the second consecutive year against an historical franchise that has not appeared in the Stanley cup finals in 28 years. The Montreal Canadiens will feature in their first final since the 1993 NHL season, and will be looking to add another Stanley Cup Finals win to the 23 championships they carry already as underdogs looking to write a sports story of the ages.
All roads lead to the final. Tampa Bay Lightning had a strong season that only consisted of 56 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finished 8th in the NHL overall and 3rd in the Discover Central Division with a record of 36-17-3 with a .670% points percentage. A battle to game 7 against state rivals Florida Panthers saw the Lightning 4-3 victors in the First Round. A second round win in complete control saw Tampa cruise to a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinal where they overcame a tough New York Islander team that forced a game 7 which the current champions showed true fighting spirit to win the series 4-3 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals with the chance to defend the title against one of the most historic franchises in all of sports the Montreal Canadiens.
The Montreal Canadiens are riding the underdog story of 2021. Finishing the regular season in 18th place overall in the NHL league and just about clintching a playoff spot in 4th place in the Scotia North Division with a beyond average record of 24-21-11 with a mediocre .527% point percentage rating during the regular season. Their First Round Playoff series against the Toronto Maple leafs was tough and it was forced to a game 7 where the Canadiens came out on top winning the series 4-3. The Second Round saw the Canadiens sweep the Winnepeg Jets 4-0 in the series to advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinal against the Las Vegas Knights where they wrapped the series up in 6 games to win 4-2 and book their place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since they hoisted the trophy in 1993 some 28 years ago.
Vital stats heading into game 1. The Lightning outranks Montreal with their powerplay percentage with 37.7 which is 2nd overall this playoffs compared to the Canadiens in 7th with 20.9%. Montreal leads the playoffs in penalty kill percantage with 93.5 % versus the Lightning with 83.0% which is 4th overall this post season. Montreal slightly edges the Lightning in faceoff percentage with 49.2 % (9th this post season) compared to the Lightning with 47.7 % (11th this season). Tampa Bay outranks the Canadiens this post season with a better Goals for/Games played ratio of 3.22 ranking 2nd this post season against Montreal with a 2.53 ratio ranking 11th this post season. Teams are almost equal in defence capabilities with a Goals against/Games played ratio, Tampa Bay in 2nd with 2.06 per game and the Canadiens 3rd with 2.18 per game.
Who to watch for the Tampa Bay Lightning this Stanley Cup Championship. Goalie Andrei Vaslevskiy has been pivotol for the Lightning all season long, he leads the season with 31 wins as a goalie, leads save percentage with .936% and leads the league in post season with shutouts. Vaselevskiy was vital in the Lighning overcoming the Islanders in game 7 as the goalie shutout the competition to help the Lightning reach the Stanley Cup finals again. Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in points with 27, assists with 22 and is tied in 3rd with most powerplay goals this post season. Another key player for the Lightning is Braydon Point as he leads the playoffs with 14 goals and 7 powerplay goals. Alex Killhorn is key with his 17 playoff points, 3rd in playoffs and 8 goals 2nd overall this post season. Veteran Victor Hedmen experience is crucial as he is 2nd this post season in playoff assists. Ryan McDonaugh and Steven Stamkos add a bit of thunder to the Lighning with the former leader playing minutes for this post season and the latter being 3rd in points and 5th in goals in this years playoffs.
The Canadiens star goalie Corey Price is a pivotol key player to the Canadiens chance at hoisting the Stanley Cup Trophy, as he sits in 2nd overall in the league with win percentage at .934% and many writers believe he is the reason why the Montreal Canadiens will win the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens will look to Foward Tyler Toffoli who has 5 goals , 9 assists and 14 points this post season so far. Other Canadiens to look out for are Cole Caufield the rookie who has impressed this playoffs, Nick Suzuki and Jeff Petry. Joel Armia is rules out for game 1 due to COVID-19 protocol.
The ultimate conclusion is that the Tampa Bay Lightning will demolish the Montreal Canadiens, well that is all on paper. The underdogs are clearly ready for battle and willing to defeat the odds and challenge the title holders to reliquish their hold on the Stanley Cup. They are the lowest rank team to reach final . Andreiy Vasilevskiy vs Cory Price is the battle of the goalies which is the headline for this championship showdown. Canadiens are 11-2 since Game 6 against the Maple Leafs and are 11-0 when scoring 2 goals or more and have not conceded any powerplay goals so far. Tampa Bay are 14-0 in the post season since the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and are looking to show championship stature this Finals Series. Tampa Bay are 71% favourite to win the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay -200 and The Canadiens +165 to win the Championship. Will the Lighting defend the crown? or will the Canadiens complete the underdog story of 2021.
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