Match 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final gets underway in Colorado on Wednesday night, and we have some expert NHL picks on the big showdown between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Both sides come into this match in great form, and both sides will believe they can win the 2022 Stanley Cup.
Colorado is widely regarded as the best team in the NHL, and will almost certainly expect to win their first cup for over 20 years. Tampa Bay is going for an extraordinary three Stanley Cup wins in a row.
The stage is set for a magnificent series. And no disrespect meant to fans of the New York Rangers or Edmonton Oilers, but this is the showdown that all the hockey neutrals were hoping to see.
Before we get onto match 1, we need to take a quick look at the betting to win the 2022 Stanley Cup. The Colorado Avalanche are the favorites with the best NHL betting sites, as they have been all season.
Colorado is -175, with the Tampa Bay Lightning at +155. To add a bit more substance to those betting odds; When the series between the Lightning and New York Rangers was all square at 2-2, the Avalanche were -210 to win the Stanley Cup.
This suggested that the best Vegas Sportsbooks thought the Lightning were the real threat to the Champions elect winning the Stanley Cup this season.
Right, onto match 1 of the series, and this is the first of two fixtures for the Avalanche in Denver.
The back-to-back fixtures give Jared Bednar, Nathan MacKinnon, and company a great chance to immediately get on the front foot in this best of two series. The series then switches to Florida for matches three and four.
The second match here is not until Saturday night, so both sides know they can attack this one with an extra day’s rest and no travelling before the second night of the series.
The Avalanche beat the Oilers twice in two matches at the Ball Arena. But before that, they struggled against the St Louis Blues in home matches, losing two and winning one.
So will those home doubts be playing on the minds of the Avalanche? I think they might be. As good as they have been this season, they are only human and will also know that Tampa Bay understand what to do to win this cup.
In the playoffs to date, Colorado has played 14, winning 12 and losing just two. As we’ve just alluded to, the two defeats came at the Ball Arena, at the hands of the St Louis Blues.
In the rounds on either side of the 4-2 series win over the Blues, Colorado won both those series 4-0. The common conception to take from that is when the Avalanche gets on top, they’re almost impossible to stop.
In the series against the Blues, Colorado won the first match but needed O|T. In match 2, the favorites lost. This was the only time in the playoffs the Avs were put under pressure.
Para ser justo, eles lidaram com a pressão, levaram tudo em seu passo e voltaram para vencer a série.
Quanto ao raio, eles jogaram 17 partidas nos playoffs, vencendo 12 e perdendo cinco.Três das derrotas chegaram ao Toronto Maple Leafs, com mais dois vindo nas mãos do New York Rangers na final da série da Conferência Leste.
Na segunda rodada dos playoffs, eles derrotaram a Flórida por 4-0.
No último Las Vegas NHL Odds Na partida 1, Os Avalanche são surpreendentemente os favoritos de apostas:-
Linha de dinheiro
Linha de disco
Objetivos totais
Começando com o Linha de dinheiro, Posso ver a avalanche saindo do pé da frente desta série.Como já aludimos, há três dias entre a primeira e a segunda partidas, e eu posso ver o Colorado saindo para ganhar isso.
Sim, Tampa Bay sentirá o mesmo, mas eu tenho que ir com a casa e o lado mais forte neste caso, E eu faço do Colorado Avalanche minha escolha para ganhar na linha de dinheiro.
Na linha do disco, não quero escolher Tampa Bay quando não os vejo vencendo a partida.Especialmente não em desacordo de apenas -190.Não é uma aposta ou Colorado na linha do disco para mim.
Sendo esta a partida de abertura da série, sinto que posso deixar esse mercado em paz para este jogo.
E, finalmente, objetivos totais.Eu posso ver que este é uma partida competitiva e apertada, sem um quarto dado.Não vou para o Colorado na linha do disco por causa disso.
E igualmente, não estou esperando muitos objetivos por causa disso. Então, eu vou para menos de 6 gols como minha escolha final.
