Daily NHL Odds and Betting Trends – 06/28/21
by OddsShark (@OddsShark) – Sponsored Post
Here’s a look at the NHL odds and betting trends for the games on today’s schedule.
All NHL betting lines below are as listed at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Canadiens vs Lightning | OddsShark Matchup Report
Opening NHL Odds: Lightning -208 Favorites
What would have been viewed as a massive mismatch before the NHL postseason began has turned into an intriguing underdog story for Montreal as the team has become the first Canadian club since 2011 to participate in the Stanley Cup Final starting on Monday with Game 1 at Tampa Bay.
The Canadiens are also the last team from the country to hoist the Stanley Cup, although that happened way back in 1993. While the odds are still against them winning their record 25th Stanley Cup, the defending champion Lightning had to overcome some obstacles to get back here as well, including finishing as the third-best team in the Central Division during the regular season.
Most impressive for Tampa Bay so far has been closing out each of its previous three opponents via shutout, making goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (12-6, 1.99 goals-against average this postseason) one of the favorites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy awarded to the top performer of the playoffs. Of course his counterpart Carey Price (12-5, 2.02 GAA) has been equally as good for Montreal, which has given him perhaps an even better chance of winning the Conn Smythe if his team prevails since Vasilevskiy has strong competition on his own team from center Brayden Point (playoff-best 14 goals) and winger Nikita Kucherov (playoff-best 27 points).
One negative for the Canadiens is the status of winger Joel Armia (eight points, including five goals), who did not travel with the team for the start of the series due to COVID-19 protocols. One positive though is head coach Dominique Ducharme (COVID-19) can return for Game 3 after missing Montreal’s previous four outings. Regarding recent series history, the Lightning have dominated the past 10 meetings, winning nine of them, with the UNDER on a 5-1 run in the last six.
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