NHL Betting – Best Stanley Cup Props For Game 2

Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning showed the Montreal Canadiens who was boss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, didn’t they? But much of the analysis invariably has to go into whether Montreal was as far out of it as the 5-1 score indicated.

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To NHL bettors, it may have looked very much like the Bolts’ first line had a party, and indeed Nikita Kucherov, who was a big factor in the previous series against the New York Islanders despite not scoring a goal, more than made up for that.

Naturally what happened in the first game is going to affect how we look at the second game – one way or the other. So based on that, and our crystal ball, we take a swing and like our chances of cashing with these props for Game 2:

Canadiens vs. Lightning Props Picks for Game 2

Canadiens vs. Lightning Betting Report

LIGHTNING TO WIN IN REGULATION TIME (-145)

The logic here is simple, if you were influenced at all by the results of Game 1. Tampa Bay looks like the better, more well-balanced side, and they can claim to have the better man in goal as well, although we applaud Carey Price as a legitimate Conn Smythe candidate.

On the money line, the Lightning are laying -210 odds. What you are, in effect, doing here, is taking a team that has not gone into the extra period very much (just three times in the playoffs) and getting a better price with them to do what you might expect they will.

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STEVEN STAMKOS TO SCORE A GOAL (+190)

There is something that tells us Steven Stamkos is going to find some life in this series. That hasn’t always been the case in these playoffs. But if you believe that the Tampa Bay power play can continue to hit paydirt against Carey Price and a Montreal penalty kill that had been impregnable until Game 1 of this series, this may be another spot for him totally a goal, perhaps with a man advantage. In fact, that’s what may have to happen, inasmuch as four of his five goals in this postseason have come on the power play. Let’s not forget how prolific he can be when healthy; a guy who has reached 60 goals in a season and surpassed the 50-mark at age 19 can’t be overlooked.

NIKITA KUCHEROV TO SCORE TWO OR MORE POINTS (+200)

The logical thing here, honestly, would be for Montreal’s interim coach, Luke Richardson, to take the forwards who have been so good on defense (Brendan Gallagher, Patrick Danault) and put them up against the high-scoring first line of Tampa Bay’s. But if that did happen, Bolts coach Jon Cooper would probably figure out a way to counter that. By the way, Kucherov was plus-3 in game 1, along with linemates Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat.

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SHEA WEBER TO SCORE A POINT (+170)

Let’s see… Who could score a point for the Montreal side? Well, Weber was able to get himself into the middle of things in 25-plus minutes of play. He did register an assist on the team’s only goal, and he was able to get off five shots on goal – only one other member of the Canadiens had as many as three (Gallagher).