Tampa Bay Trying to Move Closer to Another Run at The Stanley Cup

Tampa Bay Has A Chance To Eliminate Florida

The 3-0 series lead for the Tampa Bay Lightning had to be on the list of unlikely scenarios. 

The first two games of the series were close and hard-fought and Game 3 was. too. Now, most will forget that the score was 3-1 before the empty-net goals. Florida even managed to strike on the power play for the first time against Tampa Bay. It did not matter. Tampa Bay got contributions from its depth players in a balanced effort.

Florida was a very slight favourite to open series betting. Tampa Bay is an overwhelming 1.06 (Florida is at 10.00 now). That spread just hammers home the fact that this one appears to be over and it could end on Monday night. 

Expect more movement as bettors and bookies alike in Canada try to market Tampa’s potential for complacency. 

Tampa Bay and Florida Battle In Game 4 From Tampa

Alas, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a chance to get some considerable rest heading into the Eastern Conference Final. Few, if any, pundits give Florida a chance of doing the near impossible. 

Los Angeles is one of the last teams to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. The Kings pulled it off during the 2014 playoffs as they eliminated the San Jose Sharks in seven games after falling behind 3-0. 

The feeling is there may be some “let up” in Tampa Bay. It happened in the last two Stanley Cup runs on a few occasions. 

Here are some bets to consider:

• Tampa Bay wins in regulation - 2.10
• Florida wins in regulation - 2.60 (hedging these may pay off).
• Watch the Andrei Vasilevskiy save prop for Game 4.
• Jonathan Huberdeau anytime goal – 3.60.
• Steven Stamkos or Nikita Kucherov anytime goal: 2.55.
• Steven Stamkos Over 3.5 shots: 2.40.
• Victor Hedman Over 2.5 shots: 1.69.
• Aleksander Barkov Over 3.5 shots: 2.20.
• Sam Reinhart Over 2.5 shots: 2.20.

Then, there is the St. Louis and Colorado series which has been “fun”.

St. Louis and Colorado Attempt To Move On From Game 3

Now, St. Louis and Colorado was one heck of a chess match in the first two-plus games as Jared Bednar and Craig Berube matched wits and adjustments. 

Then, Nazem Kadri wound up going into Jordan Binnington. Whether he was pushed into or momentum carried does not matter, the St. Louis goaltender is now out for the rest of the series with an injury.

In Game 3, Colorado cruised to a 5-2 win in St. Louis as Ville Husso only stopped 19 of 23 shots. Darcy Kuemper turned away 29 of 31 shots for Colorado.   

Let us see if the teams will be more focused on the ice tonight. Hopefully, no more water bottles get thrown. 

Those Late Game Quick Hits

Here are those picks from the nightcap for tonight:

• Total Under 6.5 Goals: 1.95
• Colorado Avalanche win in regulation: 1.86
• Ville Husso save prop to the Under: Should be near even
• Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog anytime goal parlay: 8.50 (very tiny wager)
• David Perron anytime goal: 2.90
• Devon Toews Over 2.5 shots: 2.20
• Jordan Kyrou Over 0.5 points: 1.83
• Cale Makar Over 0.5 points: 1.45
• Connor McDavid anytime goal: 2.35
• Nathan MacKinnon Over 1.5 points: 2.55

Now, keep those bets modest as Round 2 continues. Good luck everyone!