The Stanley Cup will be in the building at Ball Arena on Friday night as the Colorado Avalanche look to finish off the Tampa Bay Lightning for their third championship in franchise history. Taking down the two-time defending champions won’t be easy, but the Lightning will have to put that controversial game-winning goal out of Game 4 if they want to have a chance of sending the series to Game 6.
As always, you can catch the action live on ABC, ESPN+ and the ESPN App at 8 pm EDT, with ESPN+ offering live stats and additional camera angles.
All odds below courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Stanley Cup Final Game 5: Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche
Disk line: colorado-1.5
money line: Tampa Bay (+150), Colorado (-170)
Total: 6
Greg Wyshynski, NHL Senior Writer: Tampa Bay Lightning UNDER 2.5 goals (-115)
The Rayo managed just two goals in Game 4 on ice at home and the last line change. That doesn’t bode well for Game 5 in Denver. In Game 1, the Avalanche had an expectation of goals against in all situations of 1.67 per 60 minutes: Lightning scored three goals in Darcy Kuemper’s first game in more than two weeks. In Game 2, the goal expectancy per 60 minutes was 1.09. Avalanche can throw Nathan MacKinnon’s lane against Steven Stamkos’s trio and lock down Lightning’s top lane in his own zone. The return of Nazem Kadri also gives them a stronger second line. Kuemper is playing well and the Avalanche have finished 13 of 14 power plays. Unless the Avalanche isn’t cut out for its time, it’s hard to imagine the Lightning scoring three or more goals in this game.
Wyshynski: Nathan MacKinnon over 4.5 shots (-135)
Sometimes you play the statistics. MacKinnon has exceeded this total in six of nine home games this postseason. He has averaged nearly 24 shot attempts per 60 minutes in 5-on-5 nine home games, so he is dealing with volume. But then sometimes you play the situation. MacKinnon has waited nine years in the NHL and decades of his life for the chance to lift the Stanley Cup. He is one win away. He topped this total in both games in Tampa. He’s going to drop everything in Game 5 for a shot at glory.
Sachin Dave Chandan, ESPN Stakes Editor: Second Period, Highest Scoring Period (+260)
1 related
The second period has seen multiple goals scored in each game of this series. Obviously the second period tends to be the highest scoring period due to the long turnaround, but this time I think you’re getting a good price here from Caesars at +260. Be careful though, there is a higher than normal risk of empty nets in the third, as Lightning would be playing for his life in the series if they trailed behind in the third.
List of first goalscorers
Number of times each player has been the first scorer in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay LightningFirst GoalscorerColorado AvalancheFirst GoalscorerSteven Stamkos3Nathan MacKinnon3Corey Perry2Artturi Lehkonen2Pat Maroon2Gabriel Landeskog2Victor Hedman1Andre Burakovsky1Ondrej Palat1Cale Makar1Nikita Kucherov1Valeri Nichushkin1Nick Paul1Anthony Cirelli1
Kicks to goal
Tampa Bay LightningAverageColorado AvalancheAverageSteven Stamkos2.8Nathan MacKinnon5.8Nikita Kucherov2.2Valeri Nichushkin3.6Victor Hedman3.2Mikko Rantanen2.4Ondrej Palat1.8Cale Makar3.6Alex Killorn2.2Gabriel Landeskog2.6
Source: www.espn.com