With so many sports on the schedule, some of you may have overlooked that the NHL Stanley Cup is set to begin tonight in the Edmonton bubble between the Lightning and Stars.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were preseason favorites to win the Cup this season.
A lot has changed since then because of COVID-19, but the Lightning are still here and they have a chance to become the first team to win the Cup as preseason favorites since Chicago in 2015.
The Dallas Stars have the edge in the regular season series, though, and will prove to be a tough out.
You can bet on all sorts of NHL Stanley Cup markets at HRWager.
You can bet on which team will win the Cup. There will also be a lot of markets for every game that will include player/team props and live (in-play) betting throughout the series.
HRWager has one of the best NHL live betting platforms for US bettors.
Dallas Stars vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Series Odds and Pick
Series Odds: Lightning (-190) vs. Stars (+160)
The Lightning come into this series as pretty big favorites.
Tampa Bay have eliminated the Blue Jackets (4-1), Bruins (4-1) and Islanders (4-2). No team has even come close to eliminating them in the NHL playoffs and they’ve played some tough teams.
Steven Stamkos still hasn’t been able to play either. He won’t suit up for Game 1 tonight, but there’s a chance that he could end up playing in this Stanley Cup series at some point.
Winning NHL Game Predictions at SAS
The Stars have eliminated the Flames (4-2), Avalanche (4-3) and Golden Knights (4-1).
These two teams have played against each other twice this season. The Stars won 4-3 in OT in Tampa and then they won 3-2 in OT at home. This series could have a lot of games heading to OT.
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 26 points (6G/20A). Brayden Point and Victor Hedman are tied for the lead on the team in goals (9). Ondrej Palat has also scored 8 goals in the playoffs.
Miro Heiskanen leads the Stars with 22 points (5G/17A). Joe Pavelski and Denis Gurianov lead the team with 9 goals, while Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov have both scored 8 goals.
These two teams can score plenty of goals. The Lightning are averaging 3.11 GPG (4th) in the playoffs, while the Stars are averaging 2.95 GPG (7th). The big difference in this series could be goaltending.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is 14-5 in the playoffs with a 1.82 GAA and .931 SV%. He’s the best goalie in the NHL and he could be the difference in this series. Anton Khudobin has started most games in net for the Stars – he has a 12-6 record in the playoffs with a 2.62 GAA and .920 SV%.
Goaltending is going to be important in this series. Vasilevskiy could steal a couple games. I wish we were getting a better price, but the best bet to win the 2020 Stanley Cup are the Lightning (-190).
Best Bet: Tampa Bay Lightning to Win the Cup (-190) at HRWager
Stars vs. Lightning Game 1 Predictions
The Stars and Lightning open up the Stanley Cup series tonight at 7:30 PM ET.
Tampa Bay are –158 favorites to win Game 1 at HRWager, the Stars are priced at +138. Dallas has had a bit more rest than the Lightning and they know how important taking Game 1 is.
I expect to see the best out of the Stars tonight and they offer good value at +138 to win Game 1.
