Top NHL Betting Pick for Friday, September 25 (2020)
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final saw the Tampa Bay Lightning win in dominant fashion as their captain, Steven Stamkos, returned to the lineup. While Stamkos only ended up playing 2:47, he made the most of it, as he scored a first-period goal and put his team up 2-0 at the time. Perhaps inspired by his infusion into the lineup, Tampa would go on to win 5-1 and take a 2-1 series lead.
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Tampa Bay Lightning (-165) vs. Dallas Stars (+140)
Game 3 was one of the best efforts we’ve seen from the Lightning throughout these playoffs. Noticeably inspired by the return of Stamkos, who hadn’t played since February, the team was led by the usual suspects: Victor Hedman (3 pts) Nikita Kucherov (2 pts), and Brayden Point (2 pts). Andrei Vasilevskiy was stellar in goal with 24 saves and kept his team in the game when Dallas pushed the pace.
The Stars, on the other hand, played one of their worst games of the playoffs. Not only did they play undisciplined yet again, they consistently turned the puck over that led to Tampa’s first and third goals. The Stars will need to regain their identity and stay out of the box in order to climb back into the series. This poor play has greatly affected goaltender, Anton Khudobin – who owns an .867 save% the past two games after surrendering 8 goals collectively. While much of this is attributed to the play in front of him, he’ll need to get back on track, as well.
The keys for Dallas in Game 4 will be discipline and also containing Tampa in the second period. The Lightning have routinely dominated the second period throughout the playoffs and last game generated 10 scoring chances at 5v5 while limiting Dallas to just one.
The Stars have shown much resiliency throughout the playoffs and bounce back well. Another thing to key an eye out is Stamkos’ status. Only playing for 2:47 tells me he isn’t truly healthy and that we might not see him return to the series.
Containing the skill on Tampa is no easy task which is why Dallas has been taking more penalties. But I’m looking for them to push the Lightning to the perimeter in this one and limit their high-danger chances.
Pick: Dallas Stars +140 or better
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