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.
In fairness, they handled the pressure, took it all in their stride, and came back to win the series.
As for the Lightning, they’ve played 17 matches in the playoffs, winning 12 and losing five. Three of the defeats came to Toronto Maple Leafs, with a further two coming at the hands of the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference series final.
In their second playoff round, they defeated Florida 4-0.
In the latest Las Vegas NHL odds on match 1, the Avalanche are unsurprisingly the betting favorites:-
Moneyline
Puck Line
Total Goals
Starting with the Moneyline, I can see the Avalanche getting off on the front foot in this series. As we already alluded to, there are three days between the first and second matches, and I can see Colorado going all out to win this.
Yes, Tampa Bay will feel the same, but I have to go with the home and stronger-looking side in this instance, and I make Colorado Avalanche my pick to win on the Moneyline.
On the Puck Line, I don’t want to be picking Tampa Bay when I don’t see them winning the match. Especially not at odds of just -190. It’s either no bet or Colorado on the Puck Line for me.
With this being the opening match of the series, I feel I might leave this market alone for this fixture.
And finally, Total Goals. I can see this being a competitive, tight match with no quarter given. I’m not going for Colorado on the Puck line because of this.
And equally, I’m not expecting many goals because of this. So I’m going for Under 6 goals as my final pick.
