Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning - 7/7/21 NHL Picks and Prediction

The Tampa Bay Lighting will host the Montreal Canadiens for game 5 of their Stanley Cup Finals series. The Lightning are up 3-1 after the Canadiens won game 4.

Montreal was able to salvage a win in overtime last time out, avoiding the sweep on their own ice. Josh Anderson scored his second goal of the game to seal the deal in overtime; it was his 5th goal of the playoffs. Nick Suzuki had his team leading 9th postseason assist in the game; he also leads the team with 7 goals and 16 points. Carey Price stopped 32 of 34 shots faced in the game, earning his first win of the series. He has allowed 2.34 goals per game with a .922 save percentage in the playoffs. Montreal has played great defense on the road this postseason, ranking 4th with 2.55 goals allowed per game and 1st with a 90.6% penalty kill.

Tampa Bay was unable to take the lead after tying things up twice in game 4, ultimately ending in a 3-2 loss in overtime. They managed to outshoot the Canadiens 34-21, however could not convert with those chances. Blake Coleman notched his 8th assist in the game. Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 24 assists and 32 points this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a shaky night in net for the Lightning, allowing 3 goals on 24 shots, well below his postseason average of a .935 save percentage. Overall he has allowed 1.99 goals per game through 22 starts. The Lightning have been dominant at home, going 8-3 with a +2.1-scoring differential this postseason.  They rank second among playoff teams with 3.36 goals per game.

AUTHOR: Joe Bonomo

Call center analyst by day, sports analyst by night. Joe knows how to break down the numbers to give you the best picks.