The Montreal Canadiens will be desperate for a win to avoid being swept in the Stanley Cup Final as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night in Game 4 as +140 home underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Montreal’s struggles in this year’s Stanley Cup Final continued in Game 3 with a lopsided 6-3 loss that leaves the team facing a 3-0 series deficit going into Monday night’s matchup at the Bell Centre.
After powering an impressive Cinderella run through this year’s NHL playoffs on the strength of outstanding goaltending and stingy defence, the Canadiens have faltered badly in their first trip to the final in 28 years. Friday’s defeat marked Montreal’s first in these playoffs when scoring at least two goals, and overall the team has been outscored by a wide 14-5 margin through the first three games of the series.
That marks a dramatic reversal in fortune for the Canadiens after they surrendered just 13 total goals during their six-game semi-final series win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite seeing the OVER prevail in two of the first three games of the series at betting sites, the total continues to hold steady at 5.0 for Monday’s contest.
However, the Canadiens have not enjoyed the same resilience on the NHL playoff series prices. Now riding a seven-game losing streak against the Lightning, according to the OddsShark NHL Database, Montreal has tumbled to a massive +1700 underdog to rebound and claim the 25th Stanley Cup in franchise history.
With a successful defence of their Stanley Cup title now in reach, the Lightning look to Game 4 as strong -160 road favourites. The Lightning have taken control of this series despite getting outshot by wide 78-53 overall margin over the past two games.
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has emerged as the clear winner early on in the battle with his Canadiens counterpart Carey Price. After allowing just 11 total goals in Tampa Bay’s seven-game series win over the New York Islanders in the semi-finals, Vasilevskiy has followed up by compiling a sparkling .948 save percentage through the first three games of this series to sit as the favourite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy this summer.
Now riding a five-game win streak at the Bell Centre, Vasilevskiy has limited the Canadiens to just 12 total goals in his past seven visits to Montreal. The 26-year-old former Vezina Trophy winner has also surrendered three or more goals in consecutive games just once in 21 appearances so far in these playoffs.
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