Lightning vs Avalanche: Avalanche Have Chance to Put Away the Lightning

• The Tampa Bay Lightning won Game Three in this series.
• The Colorado Avalanche won Games One, Two, and Four in this series.
• The Lightning will be without Brayden Point, and the Avalanche will be without Andre Burakovsky in this game.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Colorado Avalanche Odds

Odds taken from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Colorado Avalanche Predictions and Picks

Colorado Avalanche beat Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3

Tampa Bay Lightning cover

Over 6 goals

The Tampa Bay Lightning face their toughest challenge yet, as they take on the Colorado Avalanche on the road in a Game Five elimination match. The Lightning won Game Three 3-2 but lost Game Four in a heartbreaking fashion. Tampa Bay struck first with an Anthony Cirelli goal 36 seconds into the game. Neither team scored for the next 24 minutes until Nathan MacKinnon tied the game up with a power-play goal. Victor Hedman gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead five minutes later, and it looked like Tampa was going to tie up the series. Enter Andrew Cogliano. Cogliano tied the game up with a little under three minutes left and sent it to overtime. The overtime period was intense, but Nazem Kadri (in his first Stanley Cup Finals appearance) scored the game-winning goal a little over 12 minutes in.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have an uphill battle in Game Five. They will need huge performances from Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman, and Steven Stamkos if they want to continue their season. Kucherov leads the Lightning in assists (19) and points (26); Kucherov also shoots quite a bit but only scores on about 10% of his shots. Ondrej Palat is a very talented goal-scorer, scoring over 22% of his shots. Palat’s ten goals are tied for the most on the team. Victor Hedman has only scored three goals in the Playoffs but has 15 assists. Hedman also anchors the Lightning defense and plays over 24 minutes a game. Finally, we have Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has had a quiet Stanley Cup but has ten goals and seven assists in the Playoffs. All four players need to have the best games of their season in this elimination match.

Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a workhorse in net. He has played almost every minute of the Playoffs and has a save percentage of .920. Vasilevskiy has been a strong performer all season and needs to continue to be one this game.

The Colorado Avalanche continue to show why they are the best team in the league. After fighting back to win Game Four in overtime, they are back in the driver’s seat and ready to be Stanley Cup Champions.

The Avalanche have seen Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nazem Kadri come through in the Playoffs. These five players have combined for 109 points and 42 goals. I expect them all to have good games and push Colorado to the win.

Darcy Kuemper has started all four Stanley Cup Finals games and performed well in three of them. After missing most of the Conference Finals with an injury, he has rebounded well in this series. Kuemper does not have to do anything wild in this game; he just has to play well.

This will be the final game of the season. The Avalanche will win Game Five with the help of their home crowd.

Head-to-Head: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Colorado Avalanche

Why Might the Tampa Bay Lightning Win?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the underdogs but can win if they do not commit penalties and win the First Period.

The Lightning penalty kill unit has been horrible in this series. They have given up six power-play goals in four games and would be in a much better position if they committed fewer penalties. I cannot expect the Tampa penalty kill unit to improve this game, so the Lightning have to avoid sending them onto the ice. If Tampa avoids committing penalties, they’ll give themselves a chance.

The momentum has swung in Colorado’s direction, and the only way for it to swing back is by scoring the first goal and leading at the end of the First Period. The Lightning are in desperate need of momentum, and this is one of the few ways they can get it.

Why Might the Colorado Avalanche Win?

The Colorado Avalanche will win the game if they take a lot of shots and play team hockey.

The Avalanche took 38 shots last game and only scored four goals. They need to shoot a lot to outscore the Lightning. It is as simple as that.

Colorado has put on a passing display in the Playoffs. They have 129 assists on 81 goals. The Avalanche have played strong team hockey for the Playoffs and need to continue to do so in this game.

Lightning Key Players: (D) Victor Hedman

Victor Hedman leads the Lightning defense. He needs to figure out how to slow down the top offense in the NHL in this game. I do not know how he will do that, so I wish him luck.

Avalanche Key Player: (C) Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri made his first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in this game and did not disappoint. He scored the game-winning goals and needs to take that momentum and push it into this game.

How to Watch Tampa Bay Lightning vs Colorado Avalanche