2022 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Tampa Bay is looking to become the first franchise since the New York Islanders to win the Stanley Cup in three straight seasons. The Isles lifted the Stanley Cup four straight times from 1980 to 1983, but no team has been able to threepeat since that point. The Lightning will face their toughest test yet though as they must get past the Colorado Avalanche in order to make history. Colorado opened as a -200 favorite by the NHL betting odds, and although the price has gone down, the Avalanche are still seen as the team to beat in this series.

The 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Finals will start on Wednesday, June 15, and they could run all the way to a potential Game 7 on Tuesday, June 28. Colorado will have home ice advantage after finishing the regular season with the second-best record in the league, but Tampa Bay already swept the President’s Trophy winners earlier in the playoffs.

2022 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Betting Odds at BetOnline

Colorado Avalanche -175
Tampa Bay Lightning +155

The one area where Tampa Bay has a clear advantage over Colorado is in net. Andrei Vasilevskiy has repeatedly proven that he is the best goaltender in the NHL. He has been a Vezina Trophy finalist for four of the last five seasons, and he claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy last year for his performance in leading the Lightning to another title. Vasilevskiy was shaky in the first round against Toronto, but he allowed just three goals in Tampa Bay’s sweep of Florida and surrendered just five goals as the Lightning won four straight games against the Rangers after dropping the first two in Madison Square Garden.

Colorado will either start Darcy Kuemper or Pavel Francouz in between the pipes. Kuemper was the No. 1 goalie this season, but he suffered an upper-body injury in Game 1 against Edmonton in the Western Conference Finals and didn’t return to the ice. He has stated that he is ready to roll for the Stanley Cup Finals, yet the Avalanche are 6-0 with Francouz in net this postseason. Neither goaltender can be mentioned in the same breath as Vasilevskiy though.

The Avalanche have the most dangerous all-around attack in the NHL. Colorado has scored 65 goals in 14 games this postseason, as this attack is deep and it’s hard to find a weak link up front. Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 11 goals, and both Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen have 17 points. Nazem Kadri is an excellent second line center, and the defenders can make plays too. Cale Makar looks to be the best defenseman in the NHL for the foreseeable future due to his two-way prowess.

It’s a much more focused attack for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have two great forwards in Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat has had an excellent postseason. However, that is the only line that has had real success for the Lightning as no other forward has more than eight points. They are crossing their fingers and hoping that Brayden Point will be able to return from injury to give this offense a spark.

Prediction

The Lightning are the reigning champions, and they still have most of their key players form the last two Stanley Cup titles. Vasilevskiy will be able to win a game or two, but Colorado will just be too much in the end. As long as the goaltending situation isn’t terrible, the Avalanche should win this series in six or seven games.

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